Effect of oral alcohol on left ventricular ejection fraction, volumes, and segmental wall motion in normals and in patients with recent myocardial infarction.

A first-pass nuclear angiogram and a multiple-gated acquisition study were obtained in 10 normal physicians and in 10 patients with a 7-to-10 day old transmural myocardial infarction. After the scan the subjects drank 2 oz. of whiskey. After 60 minutes, the multiple-gated acquisition study was repeated. In the normal group the left ventricular ejection fraction was 68% before and 72% after alcohol. The left ventricular end-diastolic volume increased from 89 to 97 ml while the left ventricular end-systolic volume decreased from 29 to 27 ml. The stroke volume rose from 61 to 70 ml/beat (p less than 0.05). The cardiac output increased from 4.0 to 5.0 l/min (p less than 0.05). In the infarction group, the left ventricular ejection fraction was 58% before and 56% after alcohol administration. The left ventricular end-diastolic volume fell from 111 to 96 ml, while the left ventricular end-systolic volume declined from 50 to 44 ml. The stroke volume fell from 61 to 52 ml/beat, while the cardiac output fell from 4.5 to 3.8 l/min. In the left ventricular infarction zones, alcohol produced in 9 of the 10 cardiac patients a decline in the left ventricular regional ejection fraction. In the normal group, alcohol produced no significant changes in the regional ejection fraction. The normal and the postinfarction patients responded differently to alcohol.