title: Prevalence of electrocardiographic findings suggestive of sudden cardiac death risk in 10,867 apparently healthy young Korean men.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of electrocardiographic (ECG) findings suggestive of sudden cardiac death risk in apparently healthy young Korean men.
  
  
  METHODS
  We administered questionnaires that elicited personal and family histories and performed ECGs on 10,867 male subjects (mean age, 20.9 years). The subjects with abnormal ECG findings underwent echocardiography, a treadmill test, Holter monitoring, a flecainide provocation test, or an electrophysiologic study (EPS) according to the ECG findings and histories.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the subjects, 5.95% had left ventricular hypertrophy on ECG, but no subjects had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy by echocardiography. The percentage of subjects with a Brugada ECG pattern was 0.90%. We identified one subject with a positive result on the flecainide provocation test. The percentage of subjects with a preexcitation ECG was 0.17%. In two of the subjects, supraventricular tachycardia was induced in the EPS. Of the subjects, 0.05% had epsilon waves, but there were no subjects with arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy by echocardiography. The percentage of subjects with long QT intervals was 0.02%, but there were no arrhythmias on the treadmill test or Holter monitoring.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of a Brugada ECG pattern in apparently healthy young men is higher in Korea than other countries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Sun
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Uhm
authors.forename: Il-Ung
authors.initials: IU
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Yong-Seog
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Min-Seok
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Sung-Won
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: Woo-Seung
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Ji-Hoon
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Man-Young
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Tai-Ho
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Rho
authors.forename: You-Ho
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jung-Hoon
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.forename: Young-Soo
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jeong-Gwan
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Dong-Jin
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Dae-Kyeong
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: June
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Namgung
authors.forename: Kyoung-Min
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Yong-Hoon
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yoon-Nyun
authors.initials: YN
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hong-Euy
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Tae-Joon
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Cha
authors.forename: Young-Keun
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: On
authors.forename: Dong-Gu
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Hui-Nam
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Pak
authors.forename: Nam-Ho
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D053840:Brugada Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D012016:Reference Values; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015996:Survival Rate