Brugada syndrome and Brugada phenocopy. The importance of a differential diagnosis

To date Brugada syndrome (BrS) is considered a primary electrical heart disease and the diagnosis is based on precise clinical and electrocardiographic features. Many other diseases and conditions can lead to a Brugada-like ECG pattern but the vast majority of patients with BrS possess a structurally normal heart, which is consistent with the notion that this is a primary electrical heart disease. Presently, the terminology used in the literature to describe Brugada type 1 ECG pattern induced in patients without BrS is diverse and variable. Brugada phenocopies (BrP) are clinical entities that present with identical ECG patterns to those of true BrS but are elicited by various other clinical circumstances. They form a group of heterogeneous conditions that are perhaps the most difficult to differentiate from true congenital BrS due to identical ECG patterns and recently has been proposed an updated classification of conditions that may induce BrP and many criteria useful to differentiate BrP from BrS. A systematic diagnostic approach is crucial to avoid diagnostic errors that involve expenditure of time and resources, but above all it is useful to avoid to send patients without a real BrS to inopportune diagnostic and therapeutic paths that are sometimes burdened by considerable risks.