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Call for heart screenings for high school athletes

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Contributed by: Pam Vetter on 7/21/2008

When I was in the ninth grade, a fellow classmate of mine was participating in the required run in physical education class when he collapsed and died.

As news of the boy's death spread down the school hallways and throughout classrooms, students shared shock, anger and tears. We blamed that required gym class run. It turned out that an undetected heart problem led to the boy's death during that run.

Who knows what influence that boy would have had in our world today? It was a great loss and it had a profound effect on all of the students, because many of us had never faced death before that day. He was someone we knew and he was our age.

That was 28 years ago.

Recently, when my sister in Wisconsin told me that the Green Bay Packers were participating in a new program with Bellin Health Services and physicians of Cardiology Associates, which offered high school athletes a free heart test, I thought it was a good idea, especially considering what I'd gone through in ninth grade. I'd never heard of any sports team offering a free EKG.

My sister took her daughter, my niece, to the appointment without worry.

"Why not take her?" she asked. "It's free and courtesy of the Green Bay Packers. We love the Packers!"

They love the Packers even more today.

It turns out that my niece has a mild leak from her aortic valve and now she's been referred to a pediatric cardiologist. My niece is currently playing soccer.

Surprisingly, her problem was apparently undetectable by the regular pediatrician, because no mention has been made of the problem in annual physical exams.

Without the Green Bay Packers, Bellin Health and Cardiology Associates, where would my niece be today? She'd be playing in the middle of a soccer game without knowing there might be a problem with her heart.

On a personal level, I know all too well, what might have happened without this critical screening.

My teenage sons play soccer and baseball. I wonder why our pediatricians have never suggested EKGs. Beyond that, why doesn't a Los Angeles sports team take part in a similar program?

If pediatricians don't suggest an EKG routine screening, then maybe there needs to be an offering or publicity about possible heart conditions such as Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM), that if undetected, could cost youth sports players their lives.

The Green Bay Packers have taken part by creating an incredible, cutting-edge program that further affects their legacy. They are truly saving lives by not only suggesting EKGs, but also offering the heart screenings at no cost.

My sister told me about another teenage boy athlet , who skipped the free screening and went to the movie theater instead. Since her daughter's initial diagnosis, she worries about that boy now.

This may be the most important screening for every high school athlete. Shockingly, it was being offered at no cost in Green Bay. Maybe other communities can learn from Green Bay's lead in providing this screening for high school athletes. Truly, it could save a life.

According to the Bellin Health Website, "Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) occurs in one in every 350 people. That means more than a half million people in the United States have the condition. And more than 6,000 otherwise healthy young people die from it every year. Every two weeks, a young athlete will collapse unexpectedly and never get up. A child with HCM may appear healthy until he or she suddenly collapses from strenuous activity. Oftentimes it's fatal.

"About 95 percent of the time, there are no symptoms. It's the most common cause of sudden death in young athletes - a heart condition called Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM). HCM usually doesn't show up in young people until high school age. It's an inherited condition that causes the heart muscle to become thick. This thickening can cause blood flow in the heart's main pumping chamber to become obstructed. It can cause the heart's electrical circuitry to go haywire and cause an irregular heartbeat that is oftentimes fatal."

For more information about the Green Bay free heart screenings or information about HCM, visit www.bellin.org/portal/page/portal/Section.

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