JACKSON HOLE, WYO – St. John’s Medical Center is making available cardio screenings for teens participating in school and community sports. The checkup is free and could catch a potentially fatal genetic heart condition before it’s too late.
Medical studies suggest the value of a heart screening at around age 15 for youth involved in athletics. As a community service and in response to demand, St. John’s will offer the free clinic on Saturday, October 14, from 8am ‘til noon.
At the clinics, high school athletes ages 14-18 are screened for genetic conditions, including hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a condition that usually goes undetected.
It can be difficult to pick up HCM during a routine sports examination but very easily detected during the painless tests offered during the clinic. Unless cardiac symptoms or history are present (in which case your pediatrician can refer you to a cardiologist for a full work up), a heart screening at around age 15 is all that is needed.
The screening includes a 12-lead ECG and a limited two-dimensional echocardiogram (echo or ultrasound of the heart) to detect HCM, the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes. These tests are not included in standard pre-participation sports physical examinations. Both the ECG and echo are noninvasive, painless and can be quite expensive.
Thanks to support from the St. John’s Hospital Foundation and Shirley’s Heart Run, St. John’s is able to provide this screening at no charge to families. St. John’s is pleased to have Teton County School District as a program participant.
If the screening indicates that additional testing is necessary, St. John’s Medical Center is working with Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, UT, for follow up care.
Dr. William Mullen of St. John’s Cardiology, Dr. Ellen Gallant, and Dr. Jason Su and cardiology residents from the University of Utah Health, volunteered their time to help with the clinic. Dr. Su, who is on the medical staff at St. John’s Medical Center, has a general pediatric cardiology clinic at Primary Children’s and treats children with all forms of congenital cardiovascular disease. His specialty is in noninvasive imaging, specifically cardiac MRI, fetal echocardiography, and 3D echocardiography.
Sign your student athlete up today. Students who participated in the heart screening last year do not need to do it again.
