Journal of Arrhythmia (Jan 2009)

Alcohol-induced Ventricular Fibrillation in Brugada Syndrome

  • Takekuni Hayashi, MD,
  • Haruo Mitani, MD,
  • Kosaku Goto, MD,
  • Rieko Ishimura, MD,
  • Susumu Tao, MD,
  • Sachiko Ito, MD,
  • Jun Masuda, MD,
  • Hajime Fujimoto, MD,
  • Yo Fujimoto, MD,
  • Sugao Ishiwata, MD,
  • Tetsu Yamaguchi, MD,
  • Minoru Ohno, MD

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/S1880-4276(09)80031-8
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 25, no. 1
pp. 32 – 35

Abstract

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A 37-year-old man lost consciousness suddenly due to ventricular fibrillation (VF). After cardioversion, twelve-lead ECG showed a pattern characteristic of type 1 Brugada. An implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) was implanted for Brugada syndrome. In the following three years, VF occurred eight times after consumption of alcohol. Association between the Brugada syndrome and alcohol consumption has rarely been reported. Recently, it was reported that alcohol has inhibitory effect on single cardiac sodium channel gating and it may be that alcohol acted as a sodium channel blocker in this patient. Here we report a case of alcohol-induced VF in Brugada syndrome.

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