The prevalence of Brugada ECG in adult patients in a large university hospital in the western United States.

The prevalence of Brugada ECG in the United States is controversial and has not been studied in the western United States. The goal of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of Brugada syndrome appearing on ECGs in a large university hospital located in California. A total of 1348 ECGs performed at a university hospital in southern California in 1995 were randomly selected and reviewed for fulfilling 1 of the 3 types of Brugada criteria. Patients' baseline data were recorded, including age, sex, and race. Only 2 (0.14%) ECGs were consistent with 1 of the 3 types of Brugada syndrome. Both were classified as type 2. One of the patients was an Asian woman and the second was a Hispanic man. The mean age of study population was 52.7+/-16.2 years and consisted of 55% Caucasian patients followed by 20.8% Hispanic patients. The incidence of Brugada is rare among adult patients at a university hospital in the western United States.