A limited heart screening will be offered to 200 area high school student athletes for $10 per student from 8 am to 1 pm, Saturday, June 4, in Suite 124 of the North Professional Building at Borgess Medical Center. Pre-registration is required and the student athlete’s parent or legal guardian must accompany the student to the screening.
Borgess Heart Institute’s Heart Attack & Stroke Prevention Program created this screening with the cooperation of Borgess cardiologists, pediatricians, sports medicine physicians, orthopedic surgeons and other diagnostic professionals.
“The death of Fennville High School basketball star Wes Leonard has many parents requesting heart screening for their student athletes,” said Dr. Christopher Uggen, Borgess Bone & Joint Institute orthopedic surgeon who specializes in sports medicine. “The June 4 event at Borgess Medical Center will meet this need by giving parents a screening option that addresses some of their heart-related concerns. On other occasions, the Borgess Bone & Joint Institute will offer traditional student athlete pre-participation physical exams which in some instances may be enhanced with this additional heart screening.”
“On June 4th, we will attempt to identify some pre-existing heart conditions that could potentially increase a student’s risk of a cardiac event or sudden cardiac death with vigorous physical activity,” says Dr. Soundos Moualla, Medical Director, Borgess Heart Attack & Stroke Prevention Program, and Borgess Heart Center for Excellence cardiologist.
According to Dr. Moualla, “Student athletes may have inherited heart conditions that put them at risk for sudden cardiac arrest. Such young people are often not diagnosed because they may be outstanding competitors and appear healthy.”
The Borgess student athlete screening combines a simple cardiac-focused health history and non-invasive screening to primarily look for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), which is the leading cause of sudden death in athletes. HCM affects approximately one in 500 people and usually does not have any symptoms.
“Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a condition in which the heart muscle becomes thick, making it more difficult for the heart to pump blood and therefore making it work harder than normal,” Dr. Moualla said. “The stress on the heart during strenuous activities puts students with HCM at higher risk for sudden death.”
“This limited heart screening is intended to identify conditions like HCM while comprehensive diagnostic testing is necessary to identify all aspects of heart disease. This screening is not a substitute for a complete physical but may provide some families with added information,” said Dr. Moualla.
The June 4th screening will include:
A focused medical history questionnaire.
Blood pressure measurements.
An Electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG).
A Physician review and examination.
A Limited Echocardiogram, if needed.
Preliminary test results will be reported to each athlete on site, along with recommended follow-up if concerns are detected.
Offering heart screenings for a large number of student athletes was a challenge and an obligation, according to Cyndi Kochevar, Manager of the Borgess Heart Attack & Stroke Prevention Program.
“In the wake of recent tragic deaths of student athletes like Wes Leonard, parents have approached us for help,” Kochevar said. “Parents are facing several questions:
Is my child at risk of sudden cardiac death?
Should I allow my student athlete to participate in vigorous sports?
If I do, what do I need to know about the risks?
“We wanted to offer a screening that could provide information that is accurate and beneficial, a screening that was a responsible use of healthcare resources and a screening that was affordable to families.
“As the leading heart care provider in southwest Michigan we designed the June 4th screening event to meet all of these goals,” Kochevar said. “We may consider similar heart screenings in the future.”
Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) are also part of the solution to reducing the incidence of fatal heart incidents at high school events.
“This is a good first step,” said Dr. William LaPenna, cardiologist with the Borgess Cardiology Group. “And some type of heart screening available for all high school athletes may be more standardized in the future,” said Dr. LaPenna. “However congenital heart disease presents a wide realm of concerns that can’t be completely covered in a large-scale type study.
“Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) and basic life support or CPR training are also a part of the solution to reduce the incidence of fatal heart incidents at high school events,” Dr. LaPenna said. “We hope to increase the number of high schools that have these life-saving machines and also have adequate number of trained individuals to utilize in an emergency.
“The father of a student athlete experienced a heart attack at a Gull Lake High School wrestling match a couple years ago,” Dr. LaPenna said. “The quick action of people on the scene, including a Borgess Cardiovascular Laboratory professional, outstanding EMTs and the use of an AED, helped save the man’s life. This real-life experience shows how any large, exciting gathering of people raises the incidence for heart attacks. The risk may actually be much higher for parents, grandparents and other observers who have more heart risks factors.
“We will offer Borgess heart expertise to area schools to help reduce the incidence of future tragedies,” said Dr. LaPenna. “The notification of emergency medical service professionals, regular CPR training of staff members, and both the availability and proper use of AEDs are precautionary steps that should be considered for events involving a large number of people.”
A recent study in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, revealed about one in 44,000 NCAA athletes has sudden cardiac death each year. This death rate, higher than many estimates for young athletes, could influence health-screening guidelines for youths in sports.
Cardiac arrest is reversible in most victims if it is treated within a few minutes with an electric shock to the heart to restore a normal heartbeat-defibrillation. A victim’s chance of survival is reduced by 7-10 percent with every minute that passes without CPR and defibrillation, according to the American Heart Association. CPR can double or triple a cardiac arrest victim’s chances of survival.
For more information on the Saturday, June 4th Student Athlete Heart Screening event at Borgess Medical Center, please visit prevention.borgess.com.
