Sudden death in high-risk family members: Brugada syndrome

Brugada syndrome (an electrocardiographic pattern of right bundle branch block, ST segment elevation in leads V1 to V3, and sudden death) is genetically determined and caused by mutations in the cardiac ion channels. The mode of inheritance of the disease is autosomal dominant in half of familial forms. Sudden death may, however, occur from a variety of causes in relatives and patients with this syndrome. Twenty-five Flemish families with this syndrome with a total of 334 members were studied. Affected members were recognized by means of the typical electrocardiogram of the syndrome, either occurring spontaneously or after the intravenous administration of antiarrhythmic drugs. Sudden deaths in these families were classified as related or not to the syndrome by analysis of the data at the time of the event, mode of inheritance of the disease, and data provided by survivors. Of the 25 families with the syndrome, 18 were symptomatic (at least 1 sudden death related to the syndrome) and 7 were asymptomatic (no sudden deaths related to the syndrome). In total, there were 42 sudden cardiac deaths (12% incidence). Twenty-four sudden deaths were related to the syndrome and all happened in symptomatic families. Eighteen sudden deaths (43% of total sudden deaths) were not related to the syndrome (9 cases) or were of unclear cause (9 cases). Three of them occurred in 2 asymptomatic families and the remaining 15 in 5 symptomatic families. A total of 24 of the 50 affected members (47%) and 18 of the 284 unaffected members (6%) had aborted sudden death. This difference in the incidence of sudden death was statistically significant (p <0.0001). Patients with aborted sudden death caused by the syndrome were younger than patients with sudden death of other or unclear causes (38 +/- 4 years vs 59 +/- 3 years respectively; p = 0.0003). In families at high risk of sudden death because of genetically determined diseases, the main cause of sudden death remains the disease itself. However, almost half of sudden deaths are caused by unrelated diseases or from unclear causes. Accurate classification of the causes of sudden death is mandatory for appropriate analysis of the causes of death when designing preventive treatments.