Cardiac Arrhythmia Unit
Cardiac Arrhythmias can cause a wide range of symptoms and conditions. They can sometimes be harmless, however some Cardiac Arrhythmias can cause uncomfortable and sometimes deadly signs and symptoms. Sudden Death is usually due to a malignant Cardiac Arrhythmia: Ventricular Fibrillation.
Brugada Syndrome is one of the most common causes of sudden cardiac death and is a genetic defect that causes unusual, life-threatening arrhythmias in the heart. Dr. Brugada describes the syndrome as a specific pattern on the electrocardiogram in patients who have suffered a cardiac arrest and survived it. In some countries, sudden death is the second leading cause of death in young people after traffic accidents. In Europe, the syndrome affects on in a thousand people and due to its genetic cause it can affect several members of the same family.
Our Specialist Doctor, Dr. Pedro Brugada:
Dr. Pedro Brugada is an internationally recognized Cardiologist and the discoverer and descriptor of the Syndrome that bears his name; Brugada Syndrome. In June 2019 he received the Grand Scientific Prize of the Institut de France, an award recognized as the "prelude" to a Nobel prize.
Dr. Pedro Brugada began to investigate the syndrome in 1986, when he came across the case of two brothers, one of whom had suffered several cardiac arrests and whose sister had died in the same way. For this reason, he recognizes that in thirty years he has seen the complexity of mechanisms that can cause this disease grow.
Dr. Brugada has dedicated his professional life to perfecting innoative and minimally invasive techniques such as cryoablation of pulmonary veins in patients with atrial fibrillation, ablation of radiofrequency tachycardias, electrophysiological studies and continues to research tirelessly, to solve or improve the lives of diagnosed patients.
With more than 30 years of research, his professional career is not limited only to the description of a syndrome, but to the research and global understanding of its entire clinical spectrum: genetic bases, epidemiology, clinical manifestations, relationship with other channelopathies, diagnosis, stratification and development of different therapeutic possibilities.
What is Brugada Syndrome?
Brugada Syndrome is a disease of genetic origin. It is produced by the alteration in the genes that direct the formation by the alteration in the genes that direct the formation of cardiac proteins that regulate the passage of ions through the cell membrane, known as ion channels, which is why this disease is included in the group known as channelopathies. The alteration in the flow of ions through the membranes of the cardiac cells creates electrical alterations that favor the appearance of arrhythmias, generally ventricular, which can cause syncope or even sudden death. Since its discovery decades ago, many lives have been saved.