Overdose of Cyclic Antidepressants and the Brugada Syndrome

To the Editor: The Brugada syndrome is a rare clinical and electrocardiographic entity consisting of sudden death from cardiac causes associated with right bundle-branch block and unusual ST-segment elevation in the right precordial leads (V 1 to V 3 ). 1 A Brugada electrocardiographic pattern mimicked by overdose of cyclic antidepressants has been reported in rare instances. 2 To assess the prevalence of the Brugada electrocardiographic pattern and its relation to death during overdose of cyclic antidepressants, a retrospective study was carried out in our intensive care unit. We studied 98 consecutive cases of intoxication with cyclic antidepressants in 95 patients (mean . . .