Holiday Heart Syndrome is the name given to atrial fibrillation which occurs after binge drinking. The original description was in 1978: Ettinger PO, Wu CF, De La Cruz C Jr, Weisse AB, Ahmed SS, Regan TJ. Arrhythmias and the “Holiday Heart”: alcohol-associated cardiac rhythm disorders. Am Heart J. 1978 May;95(5):555-62 . This study reported 32 arrhythmic episodes in 24 patients. There was spontaneous recovery with abstinence from alcohol.

Holiday heart syndrome should be considered in the differential diagnosis of new onset atrial fibrillation in those without structural heart disease. In one study, alcohol was thought to be the causative agent for 35% cases of new onset atrial fibrillation. The amount of alcohol needed to precipitate it is variable. Greenspon AJ et al evaluated 14 patients with history of rhythm disturbances and alcohol consumption [Greenspon AJ, Schaal SF. The "holiday heart": electrophysiologic studies of alcohol effects in alcoholics. Ann Intern Med. 1983 Feb;98(2):135-9]. They could induce atrial or ventricular tachyarrhythmias in 10 of them with programmed stimulation after intake of alcohol while only two had it before the intake of alcohol. Significant prolongation of HV interval was also noted.