[Early signs of alcoholic cardiomyopathy].

Early signs of alcoholic cardiopathy were studied spiroergometrically and electrocardiographically in 90 males, aged 25 to 40 years, with second-stage chronic alcoholism. A fairly high physical stress tolerance (600 kgm) was found in 75.6% of the patients. Some functional parameters (metabolic units, the "oxygen pulse" of exercise, oxygen debt liquidation time) were, however, disturbed in patients with a less than 5 years' history of the disease. In those cases where alcoholism had lasted for over 5 years, the aerobic reserve was more markedly decreased during exercise, while adaptation to exercise was delayed. Electrocardiographic changes brought out by exercise testing included the emergence of spiked and deformed P waves, a prolonged systolic index and extrasystole, and flattened T wave at rest, its duration showing a direct correlation to the magnitude of oxygen debt.