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Cardiology Journal 2008, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 4–16 Copyright © 2008 Via Medica REVIEW ARTICLE ISSN 1897–5593 Early repolarization variant: Epidemiological aspects, mechanism, and differential diagnosis Andrés Ricardo Pérez Riera1, Augusto Hiroshi Uchida2, Edgardo Schapachnik3, Sérgio Dubner4, Li Zhang5, Celso Ferreira Filho6 and Celso Ferreira7 1Electro-Vectorcardigraphic Section, ABC Medical School, ABC Foundation, Santo André, São Paulo, Brazil 2Electrocardiology Service, Heart Institute (InCor) of the University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil 3Department of Chagas Disease, Dr. Cosme Argerich Hospital, Buenos Aires, Argentina 4Arrhythmias and Electrophysiology Service, Clinical y Maternidad Suizo Argentina, Buenos Aires, Argentina 5LDS Hospital and University of Utah School of Medicine, SALT Lake City UT, USA 6Cardiology Division, ABC School of Medicine, ABC Foundation and School of Medicine of Santo Amaro, UNISA, São Paulo, Brazil 7Cardiology Division, ABC School of Medicine, ABC Foundation, Santo André, São Paulo, Brazil Abstract Early repolarization variant (ERV or ERPV) is a enigmatic electrocardiographic phenom- enon, characterized by prominent J wave and ST-segment elevation in multiple leads. Recently, there has been renewed interest in ERV because of similarities to the arrhythmogenic Brugada syndrome (BrS). Not much is known about the epidemiology of ERV and several studies have reported that this condition is associated with a good prognosis. Both syndromes exhibit some similarities including the ionic underlying mechanism, the analogous responses to changes in heart rate and autonomic tone, sympathicomimetics (isoproterenol test) as well as in sodium channel and beta-blockers. These observations raise the hypothesis that ERV may be not as benign as traditionally believed. Additionally, there are documents showing that ST-segment height in the man is greatly influenced by central sympathetic nervous activity, both at baseline and during physiologic and pharmacological stress.
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