The Advances in Diagnosis and Treatment of Brugada Syndrome: A Comprehensive Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/QS.2025.43.61156Keywords
Brugada Syndrome, implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, pharmacological therapy, catheter ablation, sudden cardiac death, electrocardiography, risk stratificationAbstract
Introduction: Brugada Syndrome (BrS) is a rare genetic cardiac disorder that predisposes individuals to ventricular fibrillation and sudden cardiac death, often without structural heart disease. The condition, first described in 1992, is characterized by a distinct electrocardiographic (ECG) pattern and remains a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge.
Aim of the Study: This review aims to evaluate current literature on BrS, focusing on diagnostic criteria, risk stratification, and treatment options. By analyzing recent findings from electrophysiological studies, genetic research, and clinical trials, the study seeks to provide a comprehensive understanding of the syndrome and its management.
Materials and Methods: The literature available in the PubMed database was reviewed using the following keywords: "Brugada Syndrome," "Brugada Syndrome diagnosis," "Brugada Syndrome treatment," "risk stratification in Brugada Syndrome," "sudden cardiac death and Brugada Syndrome," and "electrocardiographic patterns in Brugada Syndrome."
Conclusion: Brugada Syndrome remains a complex condition with ongoing challenges in risk stratification and treatment optimization. While ICDs are the primary intervention for high-risk patients, their use in asymptomatic individuals remains controversial. Pharmacological therapies and catheter ablation provide alternative treatment options but require further validation. Advances in genetic testing, electrophysiological studies, and noninvasive diagnostic tools hold promise for improving risk assessment and treatment precision. Future research should focus on refining risk prediction models and enhancing personalized therapeutic strategies.
Keywords: Brugada Syndrome, sudden cardiac death, electrocardiography, risk stratification, implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, pharmacological therapy, catheter ablation
References
Brugada P, Brugada J. Right bundle branch block, persistent ST segment elevation and sudden cardiac death: A distinct clinical and electrocardiographic syndrome. A multicenter report. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1992;20(1):391-1396.
Kamakura S, Ohe T, Nakazawa K, et al. Long-term prognosis of probands with Brugada-pattern ST-elevation in leads V1-V3. Circ Arrhythm Electrophysiol. 2009;2(5):495-503.
Probst V, Veltmann C, Eckardt L, et al. Long-term prognosis of patients diagnosed with Brugada syndrome: Results from the FINGER Brugada Syndrome Registry. Circulation. 2010;121(5):635-643.
Gallagher MM, Forleo GB, Behr ER, et al. Prevalence and significance of Brugada-type ECG in 12,012 apparently healthy European subjects. Int J Cardiol. 2008;130(1):44-48.
Sacher F, Probst V, Maury P, et al. Outcome after implantation of a cardioverter-defibrillator in patients with Brugada syndrome: a multicenter study—Part 2. Circulation. 2013;128(16):1739-1747.
Atarashi H, Ogawa S, Harumi K, et al. Three-year follow-up of patients with right bundle branch block and ST segment elevation in the right precordial leads: Japanese Registry of Brugada Syndrome. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2001;37(6):1916-1920.
Kataoka N, Mizumaki K, Nakatani Y, et al. Paced QRS fragmentation is associated with spontaneous ventricular fibrillation in patients with Brugada syndrome. Heart Rhythm. 2016;13(7):1497-1503.
Kapplinger JD, Tester DJ, Alders M, et al. An international compendium of mutations in the SCN5A-encoded cardiac sodium channel in patients referred for Brugada syndrome genetic testing. Heart Rhythm. 2010;7(1):33-46.
Sarquella-Brugada G, Campuzano O, Arbelo E, et al. Brugada syndrome: clinical and genetic findings. Genet Med. 2016;18(1):3-12.
Atarashi H, Ogawa S, Harumi K, et al. Characteristics of patients with right bundle branch block and ST-segment elevation in right precordial leads. Am J Cardiol. 1996;78(5):581-583.
Matsuo K, Kurita T, Inagaki M, et al. The circadian pattern of the development of ventricular fibrillation in patients with Brugada syndrome. Eur Heart J. 1999;20(6):465-470.
Corrado D, Basso C, Buja G, et al. Right bundle branch block, right precordial ST-segment elevation, and sudden death in young people. Circulation. 2001;103(5):710-717.
Milman A, Andorin A, Gourraud JB, et al. Profile of patients with Brugada syndrome presenting with their first documented arrhythmic event: data from the Survey on Arrhythmic Events in Brugada Syndrome (SABRUS). Heart Rhythm. 2018;15(5):716.
Casado-Arroyo R, Berne P, Rao JY, et al. Long-term trends in newly diagnosed Brugada syndrome: implications for risk stratification. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2016;68(6):614.
Delise P, Allocca G, Marras E, et al. Risk stratification in individuals with the Brugada type 1 ECG pattern without previous cardiac arrest: usefulness of a combined clinical and electrophysiologic approach. Eur Heart J. 2011;32(2):169-176.
Bayes de Luna A, Brugada J, Baranchuk A, et al. Current electrocardiographic criteria for diagnosis of Brugada pattern: a consensus report. J Electrocardiol. 2012;45(5):433.
Nishizaki M, Sugi K, Izumida N, et al. Classification and assessment of computerized diagnostic criteria for Brugada-type electrocardiograms. Heart Rhythm. 2010;7(12):1660.
Richter S, Sarkozy A, Veltmann C, et al. Variability of the diagnostic ECG pattern in an ICD patient population with Brugada syndrome. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2009;20(1):69.
Cerrato N, Giustetto C, Gribaudo E, et al. Prevalence of type 1 Brugada electrocardiographic pattern evaluated by twelve-lead twenty-four-hour Holter monitoring. Am J Cardiol. 2015;115(1):52.
Gray B, Kirby A, Kabunga P, et al. Twelve-lead ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring in Brugada syndrome: potential diagnostic and prognostic implications. Heart Rhythm. 2017;14(6):866.
Priori SG, Wilde AA, Horie M, et al. Executive summary: HRS/EHRA/APHRS expert consensus statement on the diagnosis and management of patients with inherited primary arrhythmia syndromes. Europace. 2013;15(10):1389.
Therasse D, Sacher F, Petit B, et al. Sodium-channel blocker challenge in the familial screening of Brugada syndrome: safety and predictors of positivity. Heart Rhythm. 2017;14(10):1442.
Miyazaki T, Mitamura H, Miyoshi S, et al. Autonomic and antiarrhythmic drug modulation of ST segment elevation in patients with Brugada syndrome. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1996;27(5):1061.
Brugada R, Brugada J, Antzelevitch C, et al. Sodium channel blockers identify risk for sudden death in patients with ST-segment elevation and right bundle branch block but structurally normal hearts. Circulation. 2000;101(5):510.
Shimizu W, Antzelevitch C, Suyama K, et al. Effect of sodium channel blockers on ST segment, QRS duration, and corrected QT interval in patients with Brugada syndrome. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2000;11(11):1320.
Hasdemir C, Payzin S, Kocabas U, et al. High prevalence of concealed Brugada syndrome in patients with atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia. Heart Rhythm. 2015;12(7):1584.
Hong K, Brugada J, Oliva A, et al. Value of electrocardiographic parameters and ajmaline test in the diagnosis of Brugada syndrome caused by SCN5A mutations. Circulation. 2004;110(19):3023.
Antzelevitch C, Yan GX, Ackerman MJ, et al. J-Wave syndromes expert consensus conference report: emerging concepts and gaps in knowledge. Heart Rhythm. 2016;13(12):e295.
Chen Q, Kirsch GE, Zhang D, et al. Genetic basis and molecular mechanism for idiopathic ventricular fibrillation. Nature. 1998;392:293.
Sarquella-Brugada G, Campuzano O, Arbelo E, Brugada J, Brugada R. Brugada syndrome: clinical and genetic findings. Genet Med. 2016;18:3.
Richards S, Aziz N, Bale S, et al. Standards and guidelines for the interpretation of sequence variants: a joint consensus recommendation of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics and the Association for Molecular Pathology. Genet Med. 2015;17:405.
Hu D, Barajas-Martínez H, Pfeiffer R, et al. Mutations in SCN10A are responsible for a large fraction of cases of Brugada syndrome. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2014;64:66-79.
Behr ER, Savio-Galimberti E, Barc J, et al. Role of common and rare variants in SCN10A: results from the Brugada syndrome QRS locus gene discovery collaborative study. Cardiovasc Res. 2015;106:520-529.
Fukuyama M, Ohno S, Makiyama T, Horie M. Novel SCN10A variants associated with Brugada syndrome. Europace. 2016;18:905-911.
Bezzina CR, Barc J, Mizusawa Y, et al. Common variants at SCN5A-SCN10A and HEY2 are associated with Brugada syndrome, a rare disease with high risk of sudden cardiac death. Nat Genet. 2013;45:1044-1049.
Priori SG, Gasparini M, Napolitano C, et al. Risk stratification in Brugada syndrome: results of the PRELUDE (PRogrammed ELectrical stimUlation preDictive valuE) registry. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2012;59:37.
Sieira J, Ciconte G, Conte G, et al. Asymptomatic Brugada syndrome: clinical characterization and long-term prognosis. Circ Arrhythm Electrophysiol. 2015;8:1144.
Sieira J, Conte G, Ciconte G, et al. Clinical characterisation and long-term prognosis of women with Brugada syndrome. Heart. 2016;102:452.
Mizusawa Y, Morita H, Adler A, et al. Prognostic significance of fever-induced Brugada syndrome. Heart Rhythm. 2016;13:1515.
Priori SG, Blomstrom-Lundqvist C. 2015 European Society of Cardiology guidelines for the management of patients with ventricular arrhythmias and the prevention of sudden cardiac death summarized by co-chairs. Eur Heart J. 2015;36:2757.
Sommariva E, Pappone C, Martinelli Boneschi F, et al. Genetics can contribute to the prognosis of Brugada syndrome: a pilot model for risk stratification. Eur J Hum Genet. 2013;21:911.
Morita H, Kusano KF, Miura D, et al. Fragmented QRS as a marker of conduction abnormality and a predictor of prognosis of Brugada syndrome. Circulation. 2008;118:1697.
Huang Z, Patel C, Li W, et al. Role of signal-averaged electrocardiograms in arrhythmic risk stratification of patients with Brugada syndrome: a prospective study. Heart Rhythm. 2009;6:1156.
Takagi M, Aonuma K, Sekiguchi Y, Yokoyama Y, Aihara N, Hiraoka M. The prognostic value of early repolarization (J wave) and ST-segment morphology after J wave in Brugada syndrome: multicenter study in Japan. Heart Rhythm. 2013;10:533.
Olde Nordkamp LR, Postema PG, Knops RE, et al. Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator harm in young patients with inherited arrhythmia syndromes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of inappropriate shocks and complications. Heart Rhythm. 2016;13:443-454.
Rattanawong P, Kewcharoen J, Kanitsoraphan C, et al. The utility of drug challenge testing in Brugada syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2020;31:2474-2483.
Dereci A, Yap SC, Schinkel AFL. Meta-analysis of clinical outcome after implantable cardioverter-defibrillator implantation in patients with Brugada syndrome. J Am Coll Cardiol EP. 2019;5:141-148.
Conte G, Kawabata M, de Asmundis C, et al. High rate of subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillator sensing screening failure in patients with Brugada syndrome: a comparison with other inherited primary arrhythmia syndromes. Europace. 2018;20:1188-1193.
Yang F, Hanon S, Lam P, Schweitzer P. Quinidine revisited. Am J Med. 2009;122:317-321.
Viskin S, Wilde AA, Guevara-Valdivia ME, et al. Quinidine, a life-saving medication for Brugada syndrome, is inaccessible in many countries. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2013;61:2383-2387.
Szél T, Koncz I, Antzelevitch C. Cellular mechanisms underlying the effects of milrinone and cilostazol to suppress arrhythmogenesis associated with Brugada syndrome. Heart Rhythm. 2013;10:1720-1727.
Haïssaguerre M, Extramiana F, Hocini M, et al. Mapping and ablation of ventricular fibrillation associated with long-QT and Brugada syndromes. Circulation. 2003;108:925-928.
Fernandes GC, Fernandes A, Cardoso R, et al. Ablation strategies for the management of symptomatic Brugada syndrome: a systematic review. Heart Rhythm. 2018;15:1140-1147.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Bartosz Szepietowski, Wiktoria Mączyńska, Justyna Dutkiewicz, Michał Wijata, Anna Maria Wijata, Zuzanna Adriana Przybyłek-Stępień, Ryszard Bartosiński, Jan Szustak, Maria Kąpa, Jakub Marek Kaźmierczak, Ewelina Rycerz, Piotr Pasek

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Stats
Number of views and downloads: 17
Number of citations: 0