Electrocardiographic patterns of the Brugada syndrome in 2 young patients with pectus excavatum

Abstract

I hypothesized that thoracic deformity of pectus excavatum may induce the Brugada-type electrocardiogram (ECG) pattern because of the presumed chronic injury to the right ventricle. Thus, I examined the 5 outpatients with pectus excavatum to determine the presence or absence of the ECG pattern of Brugada syndrome. Four of 5 study patients accompanied incomplete right bundle branch block pattern. Among these 4, 2 patients presented with Brugada-type ECG pattern, ie, right bundle branch block pattern and ST-segment elevation in the right precordial ECG leads. Both of them with Brugada-type ECG had no past history of syncope, family history of sudden death, or malignant arrhythmias on the 24-h Holter ECG recording. These observations suggest that clinically benign Brugada-type ECG pattern may appear in some patients with pectus excavatum.