Can Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy be Reversible?
Long-term alcohol consumption is the leading cause of a nonischemic, dilated cardiomyopathy or alcoholic cardiomyopathy in western world. We presented a patient with heart failure after long term alcohol abuse. Echocardiography revealed dilatative cardiomyopathy with reduced ejection fraction and dilatation of left ventricle. Changes in ventricular function and symptoms of heart failure were reversible in our patient after the patient had stopped consuming alcohol and was treated with specific heart failure pharmacotherapy and thiamine. Such reverse remodelling of cardiovascular changes is rare in clinical practice and can be observed only if there is no fibrosis and irreversible changes in myocardial structure.