Patients with troublesome alcohol history had a significantly lower prevalence of cardiovascular disease events, even after adjusting for demographic and traditional risk factors, despite higher tobacco use & male sex predominance

Cardiovascular Events in Alcoholic Syndrome With Alcohol Withdrawal History: Results From the National Inpatient Sample. Parasuram Krishnamoorthy, Aditi Kalla, Vincent M. Figueredo. The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, Volume 355, Issue 5, May 2018, Pages 425-427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjms.2018.01.005

Abstract

Background: Epidemiologic studies suggest reduced cardiovascular disease (CVD) events with moderate alcohol consumption. However, heavy and binge drinking may be associated with higher CVD risk. Utilizing the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, we studied the association between a troublesome alcohol history (TAH), defined as those with diagnoses of both chronic alcohol syndrome and acute withdrawal history and CVD events.

Methods: Patients >18 years with diagnoses of both chronic alcohol syndrome and acute withdrawal using the International Classification of Diseases-Ninth Edition-Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes 303.9 and 291.81, were identified in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample 2009-2010 database. Demographics, including age and sex, as well as CVD event rates were collected.

Results: Patients with TAH were more likely to be male, with a smoking history and have hypertension, with less diabetes, hyperlipidemia and obesity. After multimodal adjusted regression analysis, odds of coronary artery disease, acute coronary syndrome, in-hospital death and heart failure were significantly lower in patients with TAH when compared to the general discharge patient population.

Conclusions: Utilizing a large inpatient database, patients with TAH had a significantly lower prevalence of CVD events, even after adjusting for demographic and traditional risk factors, despite higher tobacco use and male sex predominance, when compared to the general patient population.