title: The Brugada syndrome: facts and controversies.
abstract: The diagnosis of Brugada syndrome (BS) is based on a combination of clinical (malignant arrhythmias presenting as syncopal or sudden death episodes) and electrocardiographic (pathognomonic ST segment elevation morphology) features. Over the last 15 years, since its introduction as a distinct clinical entity, the BS has been extensively investigated worldwide. In this article an overview of recent developments concerning the genetic background, the diagnostic tools and the therapeutic alternatives will be presented. In the last years, the results of the first medium-term follow-up studies have also been published. Some of these studies present contradictory results, especially concerning the identification of useful sudden death predictors in asymptomatic patients. The review presented here will discuss this prognostic controversy and will offer possible explanations for the different results.
authors.affiliation: Heart Rhythm Management Institute, Free University of Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Boussy
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sarkozy
authors.forename: Gian-Battista
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Chierchia
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Richter
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Brugada
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents; D053840:Brugada Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000209:etiology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004562:Electrocardiography; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009124:Muscle Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D062554:NAV1.5 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel; D018570:Risk Assessment; D015222:Sodium Channels / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents; D009124:Muscle Proteins; D062554:NAV1.5 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel; C568320:SCN5A protein, human; D015222:Sodium Channels