[Myocardial involvement in pulmonary tuberculosis patients suffering from alcoholism]

The author studied the myocardial contractile capacity and pulmonary artery pressure in 390 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis; 250 of them suffered of chronic alcoholism (stage II-56.4%). After single intakes of alcohol patients with focal tuberculosis showed the smallest reduction of the myocardial contractile function (in 41.7%) while in infiltrative tuberculosis these changes were more pronounced and occurred frequently (84%). Most pronounced were the changes in fibrous-cavernous tuberculosis, occurring in all patients.