Cocaine use affects the heart

Long-term cocaine use is associated with regional left ventricular dysfunction, a condition that reduces the heart's pumping efficiency and increases the risk of heart failure. Researchers form the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore, USA, used MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) to measure the heart's midwall circumferential strain (Ecc), a marker of regional left ventricular function, in 32 long-term cocaine users and 14 individuals who did not use cocaine. It was found overall left ventricular function did not differ significantly between the cocaine users and non-users. The only anatomic difference between the two groups was a larger left ventricular mass in the cocaine users. However, the average Ecc measurements during the diastolic phase (the smaller number of the blood pressure reading) of heart contraction were smaller in the cocaine users than in the nonusers for 15 of the 16 ventricular segments evaluated. Similarly, the average Ecc measurements in the systolic phase (the higher number of the blood pressure reading) were smaller in the cocaine users for 11 of the 16 ventricular segments. However, these differences were not statistically significant. The Ecc disparities between the two groups did not appear to fit into any anatomic pattern. Two previous studies have indicated a relationship between abnormal diastolic function of the heart and the long-term use of cocaine. The above study is further proof for this association between long-term cocaine use and abnormal cardiac diastolic function. If left ventricular dysfunction is identified early, the right treatment might slow or reverse this serious heart condition.