[Clinical characteristics of the initial stage of alcoholic lesion of the heart in periodic and systematic forms of alcohol consumption]

A combined study of patients with second- or third-stage chronic alcoholism, prone to drinking bouts or regular alcohol consumption, was carried out to evaluate the clinical course of an early stage of alcoholic heart damage (AHD). The AHD patients with second- or third-stage chronic alcoholism and periodic alcohol consumption typically exhibited recurrent chest pains, heart rhythm disorders, signs of heart failure after an alcoholic bout, and those given to regular drinking had somato-vegetative complaints.