On 2014 Jan 09, B Martini commented:

In their recent article (1), The Brugada brothers reported that “Martini et al had published a series of patients with idiopathic ventricular fibrillation and, upon retrospective analysis, one had an electrocardiogram (ECG) with similar characteristics. However, in contrast to the report in JACC, their patients had structural heart disease with no evidence for a hereditary disorder”. This statement is again a personal interpretation of the contribution of Italian and Japanese Colleagues who published the syndrome 5 years before the Brugada article (1-4). It is not true that only 1 patient had the discussed ecg, and that there was no evidence of hereditary disorder. We have recently re-discussed and documented all the true history (5). Moreover also the “recently discovered” depolarization theory was fully proposed and demonstrated in those early articles. We wrote and still believe that all these patients have some underlying heart disease, and that there is not a distinguished functional syndrome, different from an organic one.<br> I personally have an high respect for the Brugada contribution to the syndrome, but the repeated authorital attempts to erase the true history of the discover, do not further enhance the importance of their contribution.

1. Brugada P,Brugada J, Roy D. Brugada syndrome 1992–2012: 20 years of scientific excitement, and more. Eur Heart J 2013 in press

2. Nava A, Canciani B, Schiavinato, M. L, Martini B: La repolarisation precoce dans le precordiales droites: trouble de la conduction intraventriculaire droite? Correlationse l'electrocardiographie- vectorcardiographie avec l'electro-physiologie. Mises a Jour Cardiologiques 1988;17:157-159

3. Martini B, Nava, A, Thiene, G, et al: Ventricular fibrillation without apparent heart disease: description Of six cases. Am. Heart J. 1989; 118: 1203-1209

4. Aihara, N, Ohe, T, Kamakura S, et al: Clinical and electro physiologic characteristics of idiopathic ventricular fibrillation. Shinzo 1990;22 (suppl. 2). 80-83

5. Martini B, Wu J. Nava A. A rare lethal syndrome in search of its identity: Sudden death, right bundle branch block and ST segment elevation. In Wu J, Wu J Editors: Sudden Death. Nova Biomedical New York, pp.1-39

On 2014 Jan 09, B Martini commented:

In their recent article (1), The Brugada brothers reported that “Martini et al had published a series of patients with idiopathic ventricular fibrillation and, upon retrospective analysis, one had an electrocardiogram (ECG) with similar characteristics. However, in contrast to the report in JACC, their patients had structural heart disease with no evidence for a hereditary disorder”. This statement is again a personal interpretation of the contribution of Italian and Japanese Colleagues who published the syndrome 5 years before the Brugada article (1-4). It is not true that only 1 patient had the discussed ecg, and that there was no evidence of hereditary disorder. We have recently re-discussed and documented all the true history (5). Moreover also the “recently discovered” depolarization theory was fully proposed and demonstrated in those early articles. We wrote and still believe that all these patients have some underlying heart disease, and that there is not a distinguished functional syndrome, different from an organic one.<br> I personally have an high respect for the Brugada contribution to the syndrome, but the repeated authorital attempts to erase the true history of the discover, do not further enhance the importance of their contribution.

1. Brugada P,Brugada J, Roy D. Brugada syndrome 1992–2012: 20 years of scientific excitement, and more. Eur Heart J 2013 in press

2. Nava A, Canciani B, Schiavinato, M. L, Martini B: La repolarisation precoce dans le precordiales droites: trouble de la conduction intraventriculaire droite? Correlationse l'electrocardiographie- vectorcardiographie avec l'electro-physiologie. Mises a Jour Cardiologiques 1988;17:157-159

3. Martini B, Nava, A, Thiene, G, et al: Ventricular fibrillation without apparent heart disease: description Of six cases. Am. Heart J. 1989; 118: 1203-1209

4. Aihara, N, Ohe, T, Kamakura S, et al: Clinical and electro physiologic characteristics of idiopathic ventricular fibrillation. Shinzo 1990;22 (suppl. 2). 80-83

5. Martini B, Wu J. Nava A. A rare lethal syndrome in search of its identity: Sudden death, right bundle branch block and ST segment elevation. In Wu J, Wu J Editors: Sudden Death. Nova Biomedical New York, pp.1-39