Alcoholic heart disease
Gurevich M.A., Kuzmenko N.A.

Moscow regional research clinical institute named after M.F. Vladimirskiy

Recently diagnosis and treatment of alcoholic heart disease (AHD) has become more urgent due to high prevalence and difficulties in establishing and formulating the diagnosis. Differential diagnosis with alcoholic cardiomyopathy (ACMP) and dilated cardiomyopathy with similar clinical picture also brings some complexity. The paper addresses the pathogenesis and characteristics of heart muscle damage, ACMP clinical picture and flow, their distinction from similar forms of heart diseases. Criteria of diagnosis are listed as well as possible ACMP complications, methods of their diagnosis and medical therapy. Special attention is paid to abstinence in the treatment of this disease, its important role, showed in the large number of trials, in positive prognosis and possible regression of pathological myocardium changes up to the full restoration of normal-sized cardiac cavities. Medical therapy for congestive heart failure is described in detail, which has specific features. Pathogenetic long-term therapy with metabolic drugs with pronounced antioxidant and cardioprotective effect is recommended. 

Key words: alcoholic cardiomyopathy, myocardial dystrophy, diagnostic criteria, complications, abstinence, antihypoxants.

For citation: Gurevich M.A., Kuzmenko N.A. Alcoholic heart disease // RMJ. 2016. № 19. P. 1281–1284.