The Diagnosis of Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy

Moderate alcohol intake can decrease mortality risk; in contrast, the excessive alcohol consumption added extra burden to the cardiovascular system. The Alcoholic cardiomyopathy(ACM) is defined as cardiomyopathy caused by chronic excessive drinking or intermittent alcohol abuse characterized by dilated ventricular, cardiac hypertrophy with reduced ventricular wall thickness, disturbed myofibrillary architecture, dampened myocardial contractility. In spite of its clinical importance, the current clinical diagnostic criteria of ACM is not uniform; it lacks specific immunological indicators and diagnostic gold standards. In this review, we evaluate available evidence about the diagnosis of ACM from imaging, electrocardiogram, gene and laboratory. Additionally, we discuss the epidemiology, pathophysiology and histopathological changes, clinical manifestations and treatment of ACM.

Keywords: Alcoholic, Imaging, diagnosis, Alcoholic cardiomyopathy, Cardiomyopathy.