Copyright © 2003 by the European Society of Cardiology.
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Proportion and prognosis of healthy people with coved or saddle-back type ST segment elevation in the right precordial leads during 10 years follow-up
a The Second Department of Internal Medicine, Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Toyama, Japan
b Cardiovascular Division, Itoigawa General Hospital, Niigata, Japan
* Corresponding author. Akira Fujiki, MD, The Second Department of Internal Medicine, Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama 930-0194, Japan. Tel.: +81-76-434-7295 Fax: +81-76-434-5026
E-mail address: fujiki{at}ms.toyama-mpu.ac.jp
Received 9 February 2003; revised 22 May 2003; accepted 2 June 2003
Aims The aim of this study was to investigate long-term proportion and prognosis of healthy subjects with right precordial ST segment elevation without family history of sudden death.
Methods and results We followed up electrocardiograms (ECGs) of 3339 healthy subjects (male/female 2646/693) who underwent periodical medical examination form 1992 to 2001 to determine the relationship between year-to-year changes of ST segment morphology and the risk of fatal arrhythmias. Inclusion criterion was defined as presenting either coved or saddle back type ST segment elevation (>0.2mV) in the right precordial leads. The cumulative total subjects who showed Brugada-like ECG changes at least once throughout the follow-up period were 69 (male/female 67/2; age 47.9±8.9 years, 2.1% of total subjects). During a follow-up period, annual mean proportion of coved or saddle back type ST elevation in the right precordial leads was 1.22±0.23% (0.88–1.88%). The morphological pattern of ST segment elevation was saddle-back in 77.3±7.9% and coved in 22.7±7.9% of subjects. Throughout the follow-up period, 39 subjects (56.5%) showed changes in ST segment elevation pattern. Twenty-nine subjects (42.0%) showed normalization of ST segment elevation at least once. Sixty-nine subjects were followed for a period of one to 10 years (median 4 years, interquartile range 4–8 years). Only one subject with persistent saddle-back type ST elevation had episodes of ventricular fibrillation (VF).
Conclusions The average proportion of healthy subject who had coved or saddle-back type of ST elevation in the right precordial leads without family history of sudden death was 1.22% and the risk of fatal arrhythmias was low (1/393.5 subject-years).
Key Words: Brugada syndrome • Sudden death • Ventricular fibrillation • Healthy population
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