The Brugada syndrome: facts and controversies.

The diagnosis of Brugada syndrome (BS) is based on a combination of clinical (malignant arrhythmias presenting as syncopal or sudden death episodes) and electrocardiographic (pathognomonic ST segment elevation morphology) features. Over the last 15 years, since its introduction as a distinct clinical entity, the BS has been extensively investigated worldwide. In this article an overview of recent developments concerning the genetic background, the diagnostic tools and the therapeutic alternatives will be presented. In the last years, the results of the first medium-term follow-up studies have also been published. Some of these studies present contradictory results, especially concerning the identification of useful sudden death predictors in asymptomatic patients. The review presented here will discuss this prognostic controversy and will offer possible explanations for the different results.