I am currently watching TVB’s “The Last Breakthrough”. This show, about a bunch of doctors who do charity work via Life Force was shown on Tv sometime early this year. Somehow I watched snippets of it, but since my friend gave me a copy of the whole series, I decided to watch it at my own pace…which is why I still haven’t finished watching it after so long.
Anyway, since it’s in Cantonese with Chinese subtitles, I find it hard to follow some of the medical stuff they talk about, in which case I would draw my own conclusions or simply ignore it. Nevertheless, one of the cases struck my curiosity. A guy was on the cellphone in the hospital when he suddenly collapsed while walking. They found him pulseless and in ventricular fibrillation (VF). They managed to defib him and was he was later diagnosed to have Brugada Syndrome.
Basicly the Brugada Syndrome is a genetic disease inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern. It is characterised by abnormal ECG findings (coved/saddle shaped ST elevations in V1-V3, RBBB and T wave inversions) and an increased risk of sudden cardiac death. It’s also known as the sudden unexpected death syndrome (SUDS). Due to mutations in gene SCN5A, some epicardial areas of the right ventricle have abnormal repolarization causing reentry tachycardia and/or fibrillation, thus leading to sudden cardiac death.
The cause of death is ventricular fibrillation, and since there is no treatment modality to prevent VF, the principle of treatment lies in termination of VF before it causes death. Implantation of an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) will enable the heart rhythm to be monitored continuously and will defibrillate the individual when VF is noted.
In the show, the patient was adviced to undergo this procedure but was told that it would cause 20K, and that the device would need revision every 3-4 years. The patient refused the option, saying that he could not afford it, and later died of VF when he collapsed again, this time by the roadside…
There you go. Must make a mental note to tell my dad that I’ve actually learnt something from watching canto serials. Hah.
