1. Comment on Syncope in Brugada
syndrome
Samir Morcos Rafla
Emeritus professor of cardiology, Alexandria Univ.
Previous chief of the cardiology dept.
FACC, FESC, member EHRA
Member steering committee of Egyptian Cardiac
Arrhythmia Association ECRA
smrafla@yahoo.com

2. Patients initially presenting with aborted
sudden death are at the highest risk for a
recurrence (69%), whereas those presenting
with syncope and a spontaneously appearing
Brugada ECG sign have a recurrence rate of
19%. An 8% occurrence of cardiac events was
observed in initially asymptomatic patients.

3. Among asymptomatic patients, those at
highest risk displayed the Brugada sign
spontaneously; those in whom ST
segment elevation appeared only after
provocation with sodium channel blockers
appear to be at minimal or no risk for
arrhythmic events.

4. 1 Patients have a high risk for sudden arrhythmic
death, even in the absence of a history of prior
cardiac arrest: 8.2% experienced sudden death or at
least one documented episode of VF during a mean
follow up of 24±33 months.
A spontaneously abnormal Type I ECG carried a 7.7-
fold higher risk of developing an arrhythmic event
during a lifetime as compared to individuals in
whom the ECG diagnostic of BS was evident only
after sodium channel blocker challenge.

5. 2 Male gender is another risk factor for sudden
death, because males had a 5.5-fold higher risk
of sudden death as compared to females.
3 Programmed electrical stimulation resulting
in inducibility of a sustained ventricular
arrhythmia is the strongest marker of risk,
associated with an 8-fold higher risk of
(aborted) sudden death than non-inducible
patients.

6. Inducibility of ventricular arrhythmias
and a previous history of syncope are
suggested to be markers of a poor
prognosis in Brugada syndrome.
Asymptomatic patients can be
reassured if they are non-inducible.

7. Current recommendations for ICD implantation
are summarized as follows:
1 Symptomatic patients displaying the Type 1
Brugada ECG (either spontaneously or after
sodium channel blockade) who present with
aborted sudden death should receive an ICD
without additional need for EP study .
Similar patients presenting with related
symptoms such as syncope, seizure or
noctural agonal respiration should also
undergo ICD implantation after non-cardiac
causes of these symptoms have been carefully
ruled out.

8. 2 Asymptomatic patients displaying a Type 1
Brugada ECG (spontaneously or after sodium
channel block) should undergo EPS if there is a
family history of sudden cardiac death
suspected to be due to Brugada syndrome.
EPS may be justified when the family history is
negative for sudden cardiac death if the Type 1
ECG occurs spontaneously. If inducible for
ventricular arrhythmia, the patient should
receive an ICD. Asymptomatic patients who
have no family history and who develop a Type
I ECG only after sodium channel blockade
should be closely followed-up.
Abnormal Normal

9. Brugada syndrome and ARVC/D show a
different genetic background. The only
gene thus far linked to the Brugada
syndrome is the cardiac sodium channel
gene which is the same gene implicated in
the LQT3 form. Instead, ARVC/D has been
linked to nine different chromosomal loci
and three putative genes, which are
unrelated to those discovered for Brugada

10. Conditions that can lead to ST segment elevation in the right
precordial leads
Right or left bundle branch block, left ventricular hypertrophy
Acute myocardial ischemia or infarction
Acute myocarditis
Right ventricular ischemia or infarction, Prinzmetal’s angina
Dissecting aortic aneurysm
Acute pulmonary thromboemboli
Various central and autonomic nervous system abnormalities
Heterocyclic antidepressant overdose
Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Friedreich’s ataxia
Thiamine deficiency
Hypercalcemia, Hyperkalemia
Cocaine intoxication
Mediastinal tumor compressing right ventricular outflow tract
Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy/dysplasia
Long QT syndrome, type 3
Other conditions that can lead to ST segment elevation in the right
precordial leads: Early repolarization syndrome
Other normal variants (particularly in men)

11. Twelve lead ECG of a well-trained athlete without
the Brugada syndrome