Prognosis and risk stratification of young adults with Brugada syndrome

Prognosis and risk factors for patients age 35 years or younger with Brugada syndrome (BrS) were prospectively explored in a sub-analysis of the Japan Idiopathic Ventricular Fibrillation Study (J-IVFS) registry. During the period from February 2002 to January 2011, 69 cases (mean age 30 ± 6 years, male = 66) of the young (at or less than 35 years old) BrS were enrolled in J-IVFS and the clinical course was followed for more than 1 year. They were divided into 3 groups: documented ventricular fibrillation (VF) or aborted sudden cardiac death (SCD) (VF group, 12 cases), syncope without documentation of VF (Syncope group, 17 cases) and asymptomatic group (Asympt. group, 40 cases). During a mean follow-up period of 43 ± 27 months, cardiac events (VF and/or SCD) developed in 8 cases, with 5 of 12 cases in the VF (41.7%), 2 of 17 cases in the Syncope (11.8%) and 1 of 40 cases in the Asympt. group (2.5%). The VF group had a worse prognosis for cardiac events than the Syncope and Asympt. group. Multivariate analysis revealed symptoms as a risk factor for predicting cardiac events.