Definition
The term Holiday-Heart Syndrome refers to the cardiac arrhythmia caused by alcohol abuse. Holiday-Heart Syndrome thus belongs to the category of rhythm disturbances caused by extracardiac factors. Amongst other things, it leads to a paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in addition to several other rhythm disturbances.
This is a “seizure-like” occurrence of a pathologically increased atrial frequency between 350 and 600/minute. This results in unproductive contractions in the atrium of the heart and, as a consequence, reduced blood flow to the ventricle. The name Holiday-Heart Syndrome is derived from the sudden occurrence of the described symptoms, especially on or after vacations or work-free periods due to excessive alcohol consumption. Consequently, the symptoms often occur only in the recovery phase after strenuous leisure activities.
Causes of Holiday-Heart Syndrome
In combination with alcohol, some trigger factors for this clinical picture can be found. The most important are:
- Alcohol
- Stress: Both psychological (e.g. loud music or large crowds) and physical stress (e.g. lack of sleep) promote the occurrence of the symptoms described above.
- Celebrate
Above all, a stress-related lifestyle with all its facets is said to be the cause of the clinical picture.
Most of the people affected by this clinical picture are healthy hearts, which is why a spontaneous relapse into the normal heart rhythm is often observed. Nevertheless, there are some predisposing pre-existing conditions which can increase the probability of occurrence. These include the typical cardiovascular burdening diseases such as arterial hypertension, pre-existing heart muscle weakness, obesity, diabetes mellitus, a heart attack in the medical history or chronic lung diseases.
A genetic component with possible inheritance has also been described. It is represented with an overall prevalence of 1-2% in Germany and thus the most frequent cardiac arrhythmia. In one third of the cases a symptom-free course is observed.
The remaining two thirds show possible symptoms: However, heart failure (“weakness of the heart muscle”) occurs mainly in the presence of chronic atrial fibrillation. This is the persistence of the arrhythmia from weeks to over a year. Nevertheless, atrial fibrillation is associated with the risk of complications such as thrombus formation.
This is caused by the uncontrolled contraction movements in the atrium and is potentially life-threatening. If a thrombus is released in the atrium of the heart, it can block the cerebral arteries, for example, and consequently lead to a cerebral infarction. You can find more information about the symptoms on Symptoms of heart failure
- Palpitations and tachycardia
- Shortness of breath with shortness of breath
- Irregular pulse
- Vertigo with consecutive syncope
- Anxiety associated with inner restlessness and increased sweat production
- Symptoms of heart failure
