Epidemiology of Brugada syndrome in Japan and rest of the world

Brugada syndrome is an inherited disease that causes sudden death because of ventricular fibrillation. Its prevalence is approximately 0.15% in adults and 0.005% in children in Asia, and less than 0.02% in the West. The reason for the higher prevalence in Asia is likely ethnic-specific polymorphisms modulating the activity of the primary disease-causing mutation. In Japan, the incidence of Brugada-pattern electrocardiogram (ECG) is 14.2 per 100,000 person-years. Data from multicenter registries indicate that its frequency in men with Brugada syndrome is higher in Japanese patients (94–96%) than in Caucasian patients (72–80%). Healthy individuals with Brugada-type ECG have a favorable prognosis with an annual death rate of less than 0.5%.