THE GREATER RISK OF ALCOHOLIC CARDIOMYOPATHY AND MYOPATHY IN WOMEN COMPARED WITH MEN

Objective.-To compare the cardiac and muscular status of male and fema le alcoholics to determine if the response of women to alcohol is diff erent from that of men. Design.-Cross-sectional study. Setting.-An amb ulatory alcoholism treatment unit in the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona. Patients.-Fifty asymptomatic alcoholic women, 100 asymptomatic alcoho lic men, and 50 female nonalcoholic controls. Main Outcome Measures.-S tudies included clinical assessment of muscle strength, muscle biopsy, echocardiography, radionuclide cardiac angiography, and treadmill exe rcise electrocardiographic recording test. Results.-The mean strength of the deltoid muscle in alcoholic women was significantly lower than that in controls (P<.001) and half suffered clinical weakness (muscle strength greater than or equal to SD below controls). Muscle biopsy sp ecimens from half of all asymptomatic women showed histologic evidence of myopathy. Left ventricular ejection fractions tended to be depress ed, and a third of the alcoholic women had evidence of cardiomyopathy. Muscular strength and ejection fractions in women were inversely corr elated with the total lifetime dose of ethanol, whereas the left ventr icular mass showed a direct correlation. Of the alcoholic men, 39% suf fered clinical weakness, and 45% had histologic evidence of myopathy. Evidence of cardiomyopathy was found in almost a third of the men, and their ejection fractions also correlated inversely with the total lif etime dose of ethanol. However, the threshold dose for the development of cardiomyopathy was considerably less in women than in men, and the decline in the ejection fraction with increasing alcohol dose was sig nificantly steeper (P<.001). Conclusions.-Despite the fact that the me an lifetime dose of alcohol in female alcoholics was only 60% that in male alcoholics, cardiomyopathy and myopathy were as common in female alcoholics as in male alcoholics. This finding, together with a more p ronounced response of the ejection fraction to the dose of ethanol, in dicates that women are more sensitive than men to the toxic effects of alcohol on striated muscle.