We aimed to investigate the impact of alcohol intake on risk of cardiovascular events after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).
Alcohol consumption was assessed in 1221 patients (median age 68 years[60-74]) undergoing CABG using a validated food-frequency questionnaire. Participants were followed after surgery for occurrence of major cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) including death, myocardial infarction, repeat revascularization and stroke. A Cox proportional hazards regression adjusted for all relevant risk factors including blood pressure and medications was used to assess the impact of alcohol intake on outcomes.
After a median follow-up of 3.5 years, we documented 205 (17%) MACCEs . An inverse association (P trend=0.009) between alcohol intake and occurrence of MACCEs was observed for those consuming 5-30 g/day (corresponding to ~ 2 to 3 drinks) with a multivariate-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 0.75 (95% confidence interval: 0.61-0.89) compared to lifetime abstainers.
A smaller incidence rate difference between abstainers and moderate consumers was observed in patients with left ventricular dysfunction (HR: 0.92; 95% confidence interval: 0.71-1.05) and women (HR: 0.89; 95% confidence interval: 0.73-1.01).
Patients consuming >60 g/die showed a trend towards an increased risk of late mortality (HR: 1.8; 95% confidence interval: 0.91-3.5) especially those with left ventricular dysfunction (HR: 2.1; 95% confidence interval: 1.1-4.2)
Following CABG, light to moderate alcohol consumption reduces the rate of adverse cardiovascular events especially in men. Moderate to severe alcohol intake shows a deleterious effect in patients with left ventricular dysfunction.
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