A young man with recurrent syncopes, right bundle branch block and ST segment elevation

We report on the case of a 33-year-old man with recurrent syncopes appearin g suddenly due to sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardias. The elect rocardiogram (ECG) showed a right bundle branch block pattern and ST segmen t elevation in the precordial leads V1 to V2, not explained by ischemia, el ectrolyte disturbances, toxic ingestion, or structural heart disease (coron ary and right ventricle angiograms as well as biopsies of the right ventric le were normal). ECG image was compatible with the so-called Brugada syndro me, first described in 1992. This entity is very rare. Missed diagnosis can be disastrous because life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias often devel op in patients. Copyright (C) 1999 by W.B Saunders Company.