Karol Trejbal
Causal relationship between heart rhythm disturbances and alcohol intake (A) is in general less noted by healthcare professionals than other pathological effects of alcohol. Cardiac arrhythmias may also arise in healthy subjects without clinical evidence of a heart disease, mainly after a suddenly increased alcohol consumption - binge drinking. Such cases are known as so-called Holiday heart syndrome and are most often manifested by paroxysmic atrial fibrillation (PAF). More frequent and prognostically more serious arrhythmias are present in chronic alcohol abusers. In addition to various forms of supraventricular paroxysmic atrial fibrillation, increased occurrence of malignant ventricular arrhythmias is seen in these cases. Therefore, the risk of sudden death in chronic alcohol abusers is 3 times higher than in general population. Beside direct effect of alcohol, conditions alternatively generated by alcohol (acute inebriety or chronic alcoholism) participate in development of cardiac arrhythmias, for instance electrolyte unbalance, hypothermia, silent myocardial ischemia, hypoglycaemia, etc.