Abstract
Background and Methods The prevalence, clinical background and reproducibility of Brugada-type electrocardiogram (ECG) in cases who received regular check-up at our institute in 2001 were studied. Results Among the electrocardiograms of 7844 men and 5681 women aged 15-84 years,95 (0.70%; 86men and 9 women) showed a Brugada-type ECG pattern. Coved type and saddle-back type were found in 10 and 83 cases, respectively, and coexistence of both types was found in 2 cases. The prevalence of Brugada-type ECG was higher in the older groups (60s: 1.06%, p<0.05; 70s: 1.72%, p<0.01; 80s: 11.1%, p<0.001) than in the younger group (30s: 0.46%), and seven cases experienced syncope. Also, the cause of syncope in three cases was due to arrhythmia, and one case with syncope had a family history of sudden death, although no sudden death had been observed for two years. Among 67 cases in which ECGs were consecutively recorded for 2 to 3 years,41 (61.1%) maintained a Brugada-type ECG pattern. Conclusions The prevalence of Brugada-type ECG varies greatly between reports, and this may be due to differences in the subjects studied, the gender proportion and the criteria of Brugada-type ECG. The prevalence of Brugada-type ECG was higher in the older groups than in the younger group, although its cause as well as its universality remains unknown. Repeated ECG recording is necessary to detect Brugada-type ECG, because its degree of reproducibility is not high.
