Prevalence and mortality of the Brugada-type electrocardiogram in one cityin Japan

OBJECTIVES We sought to study the prevalence and mortality of subjects exhi biting the Brugada-type electrocardiogram (ECG) in a community-based popula tion in Japan. BACKGROUND The Brugada syndrome has been associated with sudden death in su bjects without structural heart disease. Hospital-based studies showed 11% to 38% annual fatal arrhythmic events in patients with the Brugada syndrome . METHODS Prevalence and mortality of the Brugada-type ECG were studied in su bjects who had ECGs during a health examination in Moriguchi, Osaka, Japan. Information about death and relocation from Moriguchi city was obtained pr ospectively. RESULTS The Brugada-type ECG was found in 98 of 13,929 study subjects (0.70 %, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.57% to 0.86%). The typical coved-type wi th an rsR ' pattern in Va lead ("typical" Brugada-type) was found in 0.12% of subjects (95% CI: 0.07% to 0.20%). The prevalence for male subjects with the Brugada-type ECG (81%) was significantly higher than it was for those without (26%, p < 0.0001). In male subjects, the Brugada-type ECG was found in 2.14% (95% CI: 1.70% to 2.66%), and the "typical" Brugada-type was foun d in 0.38% (95% CI: 0.21% to 0.64%). After 2.6 +/- 0.3 years of follow-up, there was 1 death (1.0%, 95% CI: 0.03% to 5.6%) of a subject with the Bruga da-type ECG, whereas there were 139 deaths (1.0%, 95% CI: 0.85% to 1.2%) of those without the Brugada-type ECG (p = 0.9943, log-rank test). CONCLUSIONS A substantial number of the Brugada-type ECG were observed in s ubjects in a community-based population in Japan, especially in men. The to tal mortality of subjects with the Brugada-type ECG did not differ from the mortality of those without the Brugada-type ECG in a community-based popul ation. (C) 2001 by the American College of Cardiology.