[Chronic alcoholism and arterial hypertension. Contribution to the comprehension of the phenomenon and practical implications].

Alcohol abuse is a frequent contributor to elevated blood pressure. 710 chronic alcoholics, aged 26-60 years, admitted for detoxification were studied. We compared hypertension prevalence in alcoholics with that in a similar group of non-alcoholics matched for age, sex, and miscellaneous diseases. The prevalence of hypertension was higher in heavy drinkers (11.4%) than in non drinker subjects (3.4%). Abstinence from alcohol during hospitalization was followed by normalization of hypertensive status in a high percentage of patients (70%). The majority of hypertensive alcoholics (75%) developed target organ damage ranging from retinopathy to hypertensive cardiomyopathy and renal lesion. In a 4.6 +/- 2.8 years follow-up study of 42 hypertensive alcoholic subjects, we observed that hypertension was 26% in those who abstained alcohol ingestion versus 84% in those who remained actively alcoholics. Four patients died of liver failure and two of stroke.