Brugada Syndrome Presenting as Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia-Ventricular Fibrillation Lasting 94 Seconds Recorded on an Ambulatory Monitor

• Published in: JAMA internal medicine Vol. 175; no. 12; p. 1951
• Main Authors: Russo, Christopher R, Welch, Terrence D, Sangha, Rajbir S, Greenberg, Mark L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.12.2015
• Subjects: Adult; Brugada Syndrome - complications; Brugada Syndrome - diagnosis; Brugada Syndrome - physiopathology; Diagnosis, Differential; Electrocardiography, Ambulatory - methods; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Ventricular Fibrillation - diagnosis; Ventricular Fibrillation - etiology; Ventricular Fibrillation - physiopathology
• ISSN: 2168-6114
• DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.5934

Cardiac arrhythmias are common causes of syncope. Brugada syndrome is an uncommon but serious genetic arrhythmia disorder that can be unmasked by medicines causing sodium channel blockade. This report documents a case of Brugada syndrome and polymorphic ventricular tachycardia-ventricular fibrillation not initially recognized in a patient taking nortriptyline and experiencing syncope. It also illustrates one of the longest episodes of ventricular fibrillation recorded on an ambulatory monitor (94 seconds). Although the baseline electrocardiogram did not demonstrate a typical appearance for Brugada syndrome, provocative testing with flecainide in this patient with documented polymorphic ventricular tachycardia revealed a Brugada electrocardiogram pattern. Vigilance should be maintained for arrhythmia substrates such as Brugada syndrome in patients with typical symptoms when they are prescribed membrane-active medicines. Long-term ambulatory rhythm monitors can provide useful information in these cases, especially when symptoms are infrequent.