Teen Athlete Deaths Revive Debate on Heart Screenings

by Mary Beth Sammons (Subscribe to Mary Beth Sammons's posts)
Mar 14th 2011 1:30PM

Filed under: In The News, Health & Safety: Teens

Classmates say goodbye to Wes Leonard at a basketball game the day after his funeral. Credit: Dennis R.J. Geppert, The Holland Sentinel/AP

Four recent sudden deaths among teen athletes have spurred experts to renew the debate on whether or not heart screenings for young sports participants should be required.

In the last two weeks, Michigan high school basketball player Wes Leonard died playing basketball from cardiac arrest due to an enlarged heart; Matthew Hammerdorfer, 17, died playing rugby in Fort Collins, Colo., due to cardiac arrest and North Carolina 16-year-old Javaris Brinkley died of heart failure after playing basketball, CNN reports. Sarah Landauer, 17, a soccer and track star from Gainesville, Fla., collapsed at a track practice, but the cause of death has not yet been released.

About 50 to 100 sudden deaths occur among athletes in middle school, high school and college every year, Dr. Marlon Rosenbaum, associate clinical professor of medicine and pediatrics at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, tells CNN.

The most common cause of sudden death among young athletes is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, when the heart is thickened and enlarged, particularly in young, African-American athletes, Rosenbaum tells the network.

The recent deaths have brought new attention to the dangers of congenital heart defects, and are reviving an ongoing debate about whether heart screening for young athletes is required.

"A more complete physical and more attention to details certainly is indicated, and I think that this is highlighted, unfortunately, by when we see the catastrophic events, such as the last two weeks," Dr. Roosevelt Gilliam, a cardiologist at Healthcare Medical Group in Jonesboro, Ark., tells CNN. The group is part of a community-based effort to screen all athletes in his area for health problems.

Already, some school districts, including Battle Ground Public Schools in Battle Ground, Wa., are offering free heart screenings to middle- and high school-aged athletes. Battle Ground co-sponsors "Young Champions Heart Screening Clinics" with Southwest Washington Medical Center Heart and Vascular Center.

But just last week, a new study found mandatory electrocardiogram (ECG) screening programs in Italy and Israel had no impact on the number of athlete deaths, Reuters reports.

More and more countries, as well as the International Olympic Committee and other sports organizations, are taking the better safe than sorry approach, and are requiring that athletes get a screening that includes an ECG before participating in sports, according to CNN. The test measures the heart's electrical activity, and abnormalities may indicate an underlying problem.

Meanwhile, researchers are exploring other tests that could pinpoint these heart-related deaths in student athletes, CNN reports.

"We're looking for uncommon events in large populations, and it's not clear how to do it," Alfred Bove, a cardiologist in Philadelphia and past president of the American College of Cardiology, tells CNN.

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3-14-2011 @ 6:28PM

Scott said...

Thank you for raising awareness about SCA in our youth! We lose ~3000 kids annually in this country to sudden cardiac arrest not just athletes on the playing field. Know your family health history, be aware of symptoms and have a routine cardiac screen!

Note the Young Champions Heart Screening is not affiliated with the Battle Ground Public Schools. It is done in partnership with SWWMC Heart and Vascular and the Quinn Driscoll Foundation in Vancouver WA.

3-14-2011 @ 8:43PM

Vinnie said...

I feel saddened for the families and friends of the athletes. an ECG or any other test to attempt to head off such an occurance should be done. Now this is just my own personal opinion but has anyone looked into the likely hood of these so called energy drinks causing some of this? Those things are full of guarana, taurine, caffeine, Cyanocobalamin in very high doses. I know ppl on my step daughters team drink this stuff before a game. I have asked her not to and I hope she is listening. Pray for those that have passed and their families.

3-14-2011 @ 8:49PM

Larry said...

Although the feminist-biased ("Go Red for Women" and turn the world on its head) American Heart Association is loath to acknowledge it, the REALITY is that males, especially young males, are far more likely to die from sudden cardiac arrest than their female counterparts, and males have a significantly higher age-adjusted heart disease mortality rate.

george said...

Yes, all athletes should have heart calcium screening. I recently had one to pacify my wife. She had zero calcium but I measured 323. All but 19 of the count was in one artery. The screener has seen college athletes with readings of 2000 and 3000. It's not associated with any health scenario. You either have it or you don't. Counts in the thousands are heart attacks waiting to happen and the only fix is by-pass, even on young people. The test is not covered by insurance but the cost has been drastically reduced. Mine was $49.00.

3-14-2011 @ 9:52PM

Linda said...

Today one of our high school basketball players, aged 16 died during a tournament in McAllen, Texas. Yes I think these athletes need a better sorts physical.

3-14-2011 @ 10:40PM

Meanstr said...

I say yes Make Parents pay for the Testing and then sign wavers if anything happens to the Kid they take the Blame.A Diet pill that seemed to work was taken off the Market because a few Kids used it and Died.And now it seems you read every day a kid Died or was injuried some very badly from sports So the Deit pill was removed for killing kids so why is sports treated any different it is killing and injuring kids every Day So do not Blame anyone but the Parrents who allow their kid to do it and then get injured We know almost all sports have things happen that may kill someone.

3-16-2011 @ 12:31AM

trish said...

I think EVERY child who is going into sports should have a complete exam, to many young kids are dieing, a thing that never crosses our mind that they may have a hiden health problem, a complete exam will find it if it's there.

3-14-2011 @ 11:15PM

Elaine Daniels said...

My nephew died at 16 doing strenuous diving. He had passed out several times running track. He also had had an EKG before playing football.. Twenty years later, his nephew had similar problems, but happened to land in a place where a nurse recognized the problem. The hospital called in the doctor she had once worked for, and a mystery that had haunted our family was solved. The condition is called Elongated Q-T Syndrome. After the diagnosis of the nephew, our local doctor looking at his EKG said he saw no problem. To educate him and others, we had to get pamphlets from the doctor in Salt Lake City who had done a study on young athletes dying on football fields. We were amazed at how many doctors knew little or nothing about the heart rhythm condition.

3-15-2011 @ 1:08AM

Sharon said...

My son eleven years ago fainted a couple times during track practice and the high school sports health tech would not let him particpate in sports until he got a complete physical and his condition identified. He was given many tests for the brain, heart, etc. The final diagnosis was he was pushing his body to the maximum & was in exellent health. He had participated in youth & high school soccer for 7+ years & had participated in winter & spring track the previous 3 years. His high school senior year of winter & spring sports were missed due to the medical tests that were requested. As an adult, he runs in marathons & particpates in several adult soccer games weekly.

3-15-2011 @ 9:25PM

Patty Monteleone said...

He was one of the lucky ones.

3-15-2011 @ 1:13AM

Glenn Posner said...

You could have a normal EKG, walk out of the doctor's office and drop dead. A CXR and echocardiogram would be a better move.

3-15-2011 @ 3:33AM

wiredfm2002 said...

How about looking into the side effects and danger of drinking way to much Gatorade. Kids drink it like its water. People its SALT and SUGAR, to much of either one, cause health problems.

3-15-2011 @ 2:25AM

3000 kids having sudden cardiac arrest. How many of those 3000 kids over drink... Gatorade .. Look back in History when this all became a problem. Sure wasnt a problem when kids would drink just water, nothing added. Gatorade was a sport drink if the kid is sweating and sweating. How much is good and how much is over dose of Gatorade (salt/sugar)

what these kids have is a genetic disease not a disease caused by drinking Gatorade

3-15-2011 @ 7:50AM

humble63 said...

In 1997 we witnessed a suden cardiac arrest at a middle school basketball game. Our son had been playing with a 13 year old in a league since they were 10. Luckily the school had an on site defibrilator and were able to save the boys life. An ECG would have revealed his heart disorder. I support an ECG for all student athletes. Many doctors do sports physicals for free for those who cannot afford them or do not have insurance and I'm sure many hospitals would donate the equipment and employees volunteer the time to insure this screening. The PR is priceless (and I have worked in hospitals so I know it is a goal) and if one life is saved it is well worth it. A special thank you to the memory of Dr. Leroy Meharry who did free sports physicals for any athlete in Umatilla OR whose parents could not pay a dime.

3-15-2011 @ 10:38AM

Bruce said...

I believe there may be another interesting factor missing here, and it relates to adults. I'm 68, very athletic my entire life and from an athletic family. Both parents died in their mid 80"s. My brush with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy just concluded with 2 major bypasses and reduction of part of my heart wall muscle. I had NO IDEA that any of these factors existed until I asked for all sorts of tests , not sought before, relating to an annual physical. My precarious "time bomb" position could only grow worse as slowly increasing placques in heart arteries worked in concert with a thick wall to add stress to my system. How many adults face this hidden killer and have no idea that it exists?
Bruce

3-15-2011 @ 1:12PM

wm said...

Do they have marijuana in their system? Pot can cause heart problems. Test for drugs.

3-15-2011 @ 7:55PM

I lost my son to SCA in 2005. He was a 14 year old Freshman at Lincoln High School in Lincoln, RI. He collapsed during a baseball practice. Not only was this tragedy devastating for our family, but for the community as well. An entire team of young men had to witness his death.
I strongly believe EKG testing should be part of althletes rountine physical exams. My son was diagnosed with ARVD which is prevalant in Italy. Italian altheles do get screened with an EKG. I strongly urge anyone who is of Italian decent to have their children tested, especially boys.

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Teen Athlete Deaths Revive Debate on Heart Screenings