Brugada syndrome in pure black Africans.
OBJECTIVE
Although all races are concerned with the Brugada syndrome, no case has ever been reported among black Africans. We describe five different cases in this specific group of populations.


RESULTS
In all patients, Brugada syndrome was identified after detailed noninvasive and invasive evaluations. Sex ratio was four males for one female. Convulsive syncope was noticed in 1 patient with a family history of sudden death. Diagnostic coved-type pattern was observed spontaneously in the normal position of right precordial leads in 3 patients and in a higher position of leads in 3 patients. Sixty percent had first-degree atrioventricular block. An ajmaline test was performed in 4 patients and was positive either in normal position of leads or in superior position in all of them. Sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT) or ventricular fibrillation (VF) was inducible during programmed ventricular stimulation in 3 patients. Right ventricular cineangiography found localized apical hypokinesia with preserved systolic function in 1 patient. Automatic cardioverter defibrillator was implanted in 2 patients. SCN5A was not found in any of the patients.


CONCLUSIONS
These observations demonstrate that Brugada syndrome is also present in black African populations, and increasingly reported cases of apparent sudden death in the sub-Saharan part of the world need to rule out cardiac electrical disturbance such as Brugada syndrome.
Bonny
Aimé
A
Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, Institut de Cardiologie, Unité de Rythmologie, Paris, France. aimebonny@yahoo.fr
Tonet
Joelci
J
Fontaine
Guy
G
Lacotte
Jérôme
J
Coignard
Elisabeth
E
Duthoit
Guillaume
G
Hidden-Lucet
Françoise
F
Charron
Philippe
P
Brugada
Pedro
P
Frank
Robert
R
D044383:Black People; D053840:Brugada Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology*; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged