A comparison of echocardiographic findings in young adults with cardiomyopathy: With and without a history of methamphetamine abuse

Abstract

Background: Methamphetamine is currently the most widespread illegal stimulant abused in the United States. No previous reports comparing echocardiographic findings of cardiomyopathy with and without a history of methamphetamine abuse are available. Methods: We performed a single institution retrospective review of medical records and analyses of echocardiographic findings in patients ≤45 years of age hospitalized between 2001 and 2004 who were discharged with a diagnosis of cardiomyopathy or heart failure. After exclusion of patients with coronary artery disease or severe cardiac valvular disease, the remaining patients were divided into 2 groups based on their abuse or non abuse of methamphetamine, as determined by the documented history in the medical records or urine toxicology testing. Results: Among a total of 59 patients, 28 (47%) had a history of methamphetamine abuse or positive urine toxicology. Both methamphetamine abusers and non-abusers were predominately male (64.3% vs 64.5%, P = .99), andhada high prevalenceofobesity (55.6%vs 73.3%, P = .16). Bivariate analysis revealedsignificant differences between themethamphetamine abusers and non-abusers in left atrium volume (119.7±55.4 ml vs 85.8±33.5 ml, P = .008), left ventricular end-diastolic volume (201.9±71.4 ml vs 156.6±63.1 ml, P = .01), left ventricular end-systolic volume (136.0±53.7 ml vs 92.3±55.8 ml, P = .004), right ventricular dimension (26.3±6.0 mm vs 21.3±6.0 mm, P = .007), and quantified left ventricular ejection fraction (32.9%±11.3% vs 44.6%±17.8%, P = .004). Conclusions: We found a high prevalence of methamphetamine abuse in our study population. Methamphetamine abusers had echocardiographic findings of more severe dilated cardiomyopathy compared with non-abusers. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.