Effects of acute alcohol ingestion on heart rate variability in patients with documented coronary artery disease and stable angina pectoris.

The effects of acute alcohol intake (ethanol blood concentration 1.3 +/- 0.4%) on heart rate variability were evaluated with 24-hour Holter recordings in 20 patients with stable coronary artery disease in a juice-controlled experiment. In the frequency domain analysis, the high-, low-, and very low frequency components were significantly decreased after alcohol: these changes last longer than the elimination of alcohol.