[Inhibition of vasospastic angina by alcohol ingestion]

A 66-year-old man having a long history of angina on effort has started to show frequent episodes of angina at rest since 6 months ago. He noticed that chest pain was uncommon after taking alcohol. A variant form of angina pectoris (variant angina) was diagnosed by documentation of typical ST elevation during anginal attack and also by inducing coronary arterial spasm with intracoronary administration of ergonovine maleate. Ambulatory ECG monitoring revealed frequent ST elevation during sleep. Since the history suggested that alcohol ingestion could be effective for preventing variant angina, this effect was examined by giving 540 ml of "sake" in the evening. Variant angina was inhibited, while plasma ethanol was detected. The plasma ethanol reached its peak value as 152 mg/dl at 10 o'clock pm and returned to zero after 12 hours. When ethanol disappeared in the plasma, variant angina recurred again. Although the precise mechanism for inhibition of variant angina by alcohol ingestion is not clear, alcohol or its metabolite such as acetaldehyde seems to be able to inhibit coronary arterial spasm.