AUTHOR=Lee Sharen , Wong Wing Tak , Wong Ian Chi Kei , Mak Chloe , Mok Ngai Shing , Liu Tong , Tse Gary 

TITLE=RETRACTED: Ventricular Tachyarrhythmia Risk in Paediatric/Young vs. Adult Brugada Syndrome Patients: A Territory-Wide Study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine

VOLUME=Volume 8 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cardiovascular-medicine/articles/10.3389/fcvm.2021.671666

DOI=10.3389/fcvm.2021.671666

ISSN=2297-055X

ABSTRACT=Introduction: Brugada syndrome (BrS) is a cardiac ion channelopathy with a higher prevalence in Asia compared to the Western populations. The present study compared the differences in clinical and electrocardiographic (ECG) presentation between paediatric/young (≤25 years old) and adult (>25 years) BrS patients.
Method: This was a territory-wide retrospective cohort study of consecutive BrS patients presenting to public hospitals in Hong Kong. The primary outcome was spontaneous ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation (VT/VF).
Results: The cohort consists of 550 consecutive patients (median age of initial presentation =51±23 years; female= 7.3%; follow-up period= 83±80 months), divided into adult (n=505, mean age of initial presentation =52±19 years; female= 6.7%; mean follow-up period= 83±80 months) and paediatric/young subgroups (n=45, mean age of initial presentation=21±5 years, female= 13.3%, mean follow-up period= 73±83 months)The mean annual VT/VF incidence rate were 17 and 25 cases per 1000 patient-year, respectively.  Multivariate analysis showed that initial presentation of type 1 pattern (HR=1.80, 95% CI=[1.02, 3.15], p=0.041), initial asymptomatic presentation (HR=0.26, 95% CI=[0.07, 0.94], p=0.040) and increased P-wave axis (HR=0.98, 95% CI=[0.96, 1.00], p=0.036) were significant predictors of VT/VF for the adult subgroup. Only initial presentation of VT/VF was predictive (HR=29.30, 95% CI= [1.75, 492.00], p=0.019) in the paediatric/young subgroup. 
Conclusion: Clinical and ECG presentation of BrS vary between the paediatric/young and adult population in BrS. Risk stratification and management strategies for younger patients should take into consideration and adopt an individualized approach.