Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2020 May;25(3):e12723.
doi: 10.1111/anec.12723. Epub 2019 Nov 20.

Arrhythmic events in Brugada syndrome patients induced by fever

Gretje Roterberg  1 , Ibrahim El-Battrawy  1   2 , Michael Veith  1 , Volker Liebe  1 , Uzair Ansari  1 , Siegfried Lang  1   2 , Xiaobo Zhou  1   2 , Ibrahim Akin  1   2 , Martin Borggrefe  1   2
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Arrhythmic events in Brugada syndrome patients induced by fever

Gretje Roterberg et al. Ann Noninvasive Electrocardiol. 2020 May.

Abstract

Introduction: The Brugada syndrome is associated with arrhythmic events, which may even lead to sudden cardiac death (SCD) as it causes arrhythmic events. A typical Brugada syndrome ECG type I can be triggered at fever situations. The aim of this pooled meta-analysis is to further explore the baseline characteristics and the association of fever to BrS-related arrhythmic events.

Methods: We compiled data from a search of databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar). We included 17 studies including 14 case reports and a total of 53 patients.

Results: Our population including 53 patients showed a male predominance of 92% with a mean age of 40.6 ± 17.7 years. 58% of patients had a family history of SCD or BrS. Genetic screening was performed in 14 patients (26%) and revealed a SCN5A mutation in 21% of the patients. ICD implantation was initiated in six patients. 75% (n = 39) of patients did not have symptoms before the fever event. Symptoms at fever included life-threatening arrhythmia such as ventricular fibrillation (VF) or ventricular tachycardia (VT; 17%), syncope (13%), and cardiac arrest or aborted SCD (13%). One patient developed electrical storm which led to not aborted SCD.

Conclusion: Fever is a great risk factor for arrhythmia events in BrS patients. Patients with known fever triggered Brugada syndrome should be surveilled closely during fever and be started on antipyretic therapy as soon as possible.

Keywords: Brugada; arrhythmic events; fever.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart of the search strategy
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Adler, A. , Topaz, G. , Heller, K. , Zeltser, D. , Ohayon, T. , Rozovski, U. , … Viskin, S. (2013). Fever‐induced Brugada pattern: How common is it and what does it mean? Heart Rhythm, 10(9), 1375–1382. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Amin, A. S. , Meregalli, P. G. , Bardai, A. , Wilde, A. A. M. , & Tan, H. L. (2008). Fever increases the risk for cardiac arrest in the Brugada syndrome. Annals of Internal Medicine, 149(3), 216–218. 10.7326/0003-4819-149-3-200808050-00020 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Aramaki, K. , Okumura, H. , & Shimizu, M. (2005). Chest pain and ST elevation associated with fever in patients with asymptomatic Brugada syndrome fever and chest pain in Brugada syndrome. International Journal of Cardiology, 103(3), 338–339. 10.1016/j.ijcard.2004.06.025 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Baranchuk, A. , & Simpson, C. S. (2011). Brugada syndrome coinciding with fever and pandemic (H1N1) influenza. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 183(5), 582 10.1503/cmaj.100016 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Barra, S. , Providencia, R. , & Nascimento, J. (2013). Fever outperforms flecainide test in the unmasking of type 1 Brugada syndrome electrocardiogram. Europace, 15(3), 394 10.1093/europace/eus175 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types