Brugada Syndrome: Association Between AF and VF

Spontaneous atrial fibrillation was more common in patients who had episodes of ventricular fibrillation in a small observational study.

Brugada syndrome, which occurs most commonly in young men of Asian descent, increases risk for spontaneous ventricular fibrillation (VF) and sudden death. Atrial fibrillation (AF) also occurs in Brugada syndrome, but little is known about the association between AF and genetic, clinical, and electrophysiologic parameters. Researchers evaluated these associations in a prospective observational study of 73 patients (72 men; age range, 37–61) who received a diagnosis of Brugada syndrome at a single hospital in Japan from 1997 to 2006.

Ten patients (14%) had spontaneous AF, and 13 patients (18%) had spontaneous VF. In 70% of patients with AF and 55% of those with VF, the episodes occurred at night (midnight to 6:00 am). Clinical parameters obser…

Reviewing Author

Tiffany M. Osborn, MD