Comparable clinical characteristics in Brugada syndrome patients harboring SCN5A or novel SCN10A variants

The Brugada syndrome (BrS) is an inherited disease associated with an increased risk of sudden cardiac death. Often, the genetic cause remains undetected. Perhaps due at least in part because the Na_V1.8 protein is expressed more in both the central and peripheral nervous systems than in the heart, the SCN10A gene is not included in diagnostic arrhythmia/sudden death panels in the vast majority of cardiogenetics centres.

Clinical characteristics were assessed in patients harboring either SCN5A or novel SCN10A variants. Genetic testing was performed using Next Generation Sequencing on genomic DNA. Clinical characteristics, including the arrhythmogenic substrate, in BrS patients harboring novel SCN10A variants and SCN5A variants are comparable. Clinical characteristics, including gender, age, personal history of cardiac arrest/syncope, spontaneous BrS electrocardiogram pattern, family history of sudden death, and arrhythmic substrate are not significantly different between probands harboring SCN10A or SCN5A variants.

Future studies are warranted to further characterize the role of these specific SCN10A variants.