Holiday Heart Confirmed: Alcohol-Associated Atrial Fibrillation
Authors: Mariann R. Piano, Chueh-Lung Hwang
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2021)

EditorialsNovember 2021Holiday Heart Confirmed: Alcohol-Associated Atrial FibrillationMariann R. Piano, PhD and Chueh-Lung Hwang, PhDMariann R. Piano, PhDCenter for Research Development and Scholarship, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, Nashville, Tennessee and Chueh-Lung Hwang, PhDCollege of Applied Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IllinoisAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/M21-3193 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail Forty years ago, Ettinger and colleagues (1) used the term "holiday heart syndrome" to describe alcohol-associated arrythmias found among patients who reported heavy drinking episodes in close proximity to weekends and holidays. Among these 24 patients without evidence of heart disease, atrial fibrillation (AF) was the most common arrythmia (1). Since this case report, systematic reviews and meta-analyses have examined the relationship between alcohol consumption and AF (2, 3). These findings indicate a strong relationship; however, a limitation of most studies has been the use of questionnaires to collect data on self-reported alcohol consumption, which may be confounded by recall ...References1. Ettinger PO, Wu CF, De La, et al. Arrhythmias and the "holiday heart": alcohol-associated cardiac rhythm disorders. Am Heart J. 1978;95:555-62. [PMID: 636996] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Gallagher C, Hendriks JML, Elliott AD, et al. Alcohol and incident atrial fibrillation – a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Cardiol. 2017;246:46-52. [PMID: 28867013] doi:10.1016/j.ijcard.2017.05.133 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Kodama S, Saito K, Tanaka S, et al. Alcohol consumption and risk of atrial fibrillation: a meta-analysis. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2011;57:427-36. [PMID: 21251583] doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2010.08.641 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Marcus GM, Vittinghoff E, Whitman IR, et al. Acute consumption of alcohol and discrete atrial fibrillation events. Ann Intern Med. 2021;174:1503-9 doi:10.7326/M21-0228 LinkGoogle Scholar5. Hahn JA, Anton RF, Javors MA. The formation, elimination, interpretation, and future research needs of phosphatidylethanol for research studies and clinical practice. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2016;40:2292-2295. [PMID: 27716960] doi:10.1111/acer.13213 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar6. Roache JD, Karns TE, Hill-Kapturczak N, et al. Using transdermal alcohol monitoring to detect low-level drinking. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2015;39:1120-7. [PMID: 25988708] doi:10.1111/acer.12750 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar7. Hindricks G, Potpara T, Dagres N, et al; ESC Scientific Document Group. 2020 ESC guidelines for the diagnosis and management of atrial fibrillation developed in collaboration with the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS): the Task Force for the Diagnosis and Management of Atrial Fibrillation of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) developed with the special contribution of the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) of the ESC. Eur Heart J. 2021;42:373-498. [PMID: 32860505] doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehaa612 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar8. Ruigómez A, Johansson S, Wallander MA, et al. Predictors and prognosis of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in general practice in the UK. BMC Cardiovasc Disord. 2005;5:20. [PMID: 16008832] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar9. Voskoboinik A, Kalman JM, De Silva, et al. Alcohol abstinence in drinkers with atrial fibrillation. N Engl J Med. 2020;382:20-28. [PMID: 31893513] doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1817591 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar10. McKnight-Eily LR, Liu Y, Brewer RD, et al; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Vital signs: communication between health professionals and their patients about alcohol use—44 states and the District of Columbia, 2011. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2014;63:16-22. [PMID: 24402468] MedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Center for Research Development and Scholarship, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, Nashville, TennesseeCollege of Applied Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IllinoisDisclosures: Authors have reported no disclosures of interest. Forms can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M21-3193.Corresponding Author: Mariann R. Piano, PhD, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, 415 Godchaux Hall, 461 21st Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37240-1119; e-mail, mariann.r.[email protected]edu.Current Author Addresses: Dr. Piano: Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, 415 Godchaux Hall, 461 21st Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37240-1119.Dr. Hwang: Department of Physical Therapy, College of Applied Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1919 West Taylor Street (MC 898), Chicago, IL 60612.This article was published at Annals.org on 31 August 2021. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoAnnals On Call - Holiday Heart Robert M. Centor and Gregory M. Marcus Acute Consumption of Alcohol and Discrete Atrial Fibrillation Events Gregory M. Marcus , Eric Vittinghoff , Isaac R. Whitman , Sean Joyce , Vivian Yang , Gregory Nah , Edward P. Gerstenfeld , Joshua D. Moss , Randall J. Lee , Byron K. Lee , Zian H. Tseng , Vasanth Vedantham , Jeffrey E. Olgin , Melvin M. Scheinman , Henry Hsia , Rachel Gladstone , Shannon Fan , Emily Lee , Christina Fang , Kelsey Ogomori , Robin Fatch , and Judith A. Hahn Metrics November 2021Volume 174, Issue 11Page: 1616-1617KeywordsAlcohol consumptionAtrial fibrillationEthanol ePublished: 31 August 2021 Issue Published: November 2021 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2021 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...