Brugada syndrome is often accompanied by atrial tachyarrhythmia, such as atrial fibrillation (AF). The aim of this study was to examine atrial vulnerability in patients with Brugada syndrome. Two groups of patients were compared: 18 patients with Brugada syndrome (Brugada syndrome group) and 11 age-matched patients with neither organic heart disease nor AF episodes (control group). Programmed electrical stimulation was performed from the right atrium (RA), and the effective refractory period of the right atrium (ERP-RA), interatrial conduction time (IACT), monophasic action potentials (MAPs) at the high RA, and the inducibility of AF lasting > 30 seconds were studied. MAP duration at 80% repolarization (MAPD(80)) was calculated. AF was induced with a single extrastimulus or double extrastimuli in all patients with Brugada syndrome but in none of the control patients. The ERP-RA did not differ between the groups. IACT at the shortest diastolic interval was significantly increased in the Brugada syndrome group compared to that in the control group. The maximum slope of the MAPD(80) restitution curve was significantly steeper in the Brugada syndrome group than in the control group (2.4 + or - 2.0 versus 0.82 + or - 0.36, P < 0.02). Ventricular fibrillation was induced with ventricular programmed stimulation in all Brugada syndrome patients. Both abnormal interatrial conduction and steep restitution of action potential duration may contribute to the atrial arrhythmogenicity in Brugada syndrome.