Comparison of alcoholic cardiomyopathy in women versus men

To compare the prevalence and cardiac status of male and female alcoholics with alcoholic cardiomyopathy during a 5-year period, all chronic alcoholics with dilated cardiomyopathy who had clinical symptoms heart failure were included, Alcoholic cardiomyopathy was diagnosed in 10 chronic alcoholic women and in 26 men; the prevalence of alcoholic cardiomyopathy was similar in both sexes, No significant differences were observed in age, nutritional parameters, and clinical and radiologic data of heart failure between the groups, Alcoholic women reported a significantly lower daily dose of ethanol (p = 0.002), a shorter duration alcoholism (p = 0.017), and a lower total lifetime dose of ethanol consumption (p = 0.001), and had a lower New York Heart Association functional class than men. Women also had lesser ventricular dysfunction than men. In a multivariate analysis, left ventricular systolic dysfunction was related to the total lifetime dose of ethanol consumption (p < 0.04), but not to gender, Finally, when patients were matched for left ventricular ejection fraction, women had consumed a lower total lifetime dose of ethanol than men (p < 0.001). The prevalence of alcoholic women with dilated cardiomyopathy was found to be similar to that of alcoholic men, although women required a lower total lifetime dose of ethanol to develop the disease. (C) 1997 by Excerpta Medica, Inc.