Comparison of the cardiotoxicity of ethanol in women versus men

Subclinical left ventricular (LV) dysfunction is a common occurrence in alcoholic men but has been claimed to be absent or very rare in alcoholic women. M-mode echocardiography was performed to study LV size, mass and systolic function, and Doppler ultrasound to study LV filling in 14 chronic female alcoholics aged 24 to 48 years and in 2 age-matched control groups consisting of 17 healthy women and 22 alcoholic men. Compared with healthy women, female alcoholics had no differences in heart rate or blood pressure but a shorter LV end-diastolic diameter (mean ± standard deviation, 46 ± 4 vs 48 ± 3 mm, p < 0.05), lower fractional shortening (31 ± 6 vs 34 ± 3%, p < 0.05), increased wall thickness to radius ratio (0.43 ± 0.08 vs 0.37 ± 0.05, p < 0.05), reduced peak early diastolic transmitral velocity (45 ± 11 vs 68 ± 7 cm/s, p < 0.001), reduced deceleration of the early diastolic velocity (−274 ± 69 vs −572 ± 107 cm/s2, p < 0.001), and an increased atrial filling fraction (35 ± 12 vs 27 ± 5%, p < 0.05). Although alcoholic men had a longer duration of heavy drinking than alcoholic women (median 19 vs 5 years, p