[Brugada syndrome and work place: two case report]

Brugada Syndrome (BS) is a primary electrical disease of the heart that causes sudden cardiac death or life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias. This disease is hereditary syndrome genetically determined. The pattern of transmission is autosomic dominant. Several mutations linked to this syndrome affecting the gene SCN5A which encodes for the cardiac sodium channel have been described. Recent studies showed the disease is responsible for 4 to 50% of sudden deaths. A typical electrocardiographic (ECG) finding consists of the ST-segment elevation in the right precordial leads. These ECG patterns, which appears permanently or intermittently in patients, are unmasked by antiarrhythmic agents. This syndrome has a very poor prognosis when left untreated: one third of patients having suffered from syncopal episodes or resuscitated from near-sudden death develops a new episode of ventricular tachycardia within 2 years. The only available treatment is the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator. We report two cases of probable BS in workers exposed to occupational risks. These case reports demonstrate the importance of surveillance, particularly of cardiac examination for identifying patients at risk of ventricular arrhythmogenic events.