Scan provided for team finds heart defect in coach's son.

[Rebecca]

This story was in the ?The Atlanta Journal-Constitution? today.

http://www.ajc.com/

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/gwinnett/0805/11heartscan.html

North Atlanta high schools are offering mini echo for students for $58. This summer my children high school did not offer mini echo, but in the past they have. When their high school offers the test any student from other school could also have the test done. The Smart Heart Scans will be doing mini echoes at Northview High School on Saturday on Aug. 20 and at Chatta-hoochee High School on Sept. 10. and will also be visiting St. Plus High School. You call the school and make the appointment time. They let the girls wear sport bras during their exam.

 

[Marguerite53]

very interesting

very interesting

Thank you for sharing that, Rebecca. Awhile back I called our school district and they do not offer such screenings. I am going to forward this link to our Superintendant, however. I think it is a great idea. I wonder if there are more unfortunate indcidents on the East Coast because of the significant difference in humidity, making the body experience more stress in the heat.

My daughter is leaving monday to play volleyball in college. Had she not had several episodes of dizziness on the court over the years, I would have never thought to have her looked at. I just paid cash for a complete echo for her. It was not $1000, but certainly much closer to that than the $58 in Atlanta!! She has a perfect heart! Worth every penny in relief!

But what of my two sons (20 and 23)? We just wait. They have been told by me to have every doctor they ever see listen intently to their heart. It is recorded in their medical charts that I have a bicuspid AV. I guess we wait until (hopefully never) they hear a murmur. My oldest is just now off our medical insurance and in grad school. He certainly doesn't need to suddenly become uninsurable due to a heart defect. It's a little scary! Recently someone here noted a study linking a specific gene to possible heart defect. I hope they can zero in on that soon and enable more candidates for repair rather than replacment.

There has been much discussion here on whether or not these defects are inherited. One wonders if there are any undetected bicuspids in that young man's parents or grandparents!!

Thanks again.

Marguerite

 

[McCln]

I think it would be very important to do a scan at birth. Some things can be caught early and regular yearly scan as a standard procedure. Some things can be detected later. For children, with obesity and inactivity on the rise, they need to be scanned yearly also. And with athletes in school. scan yearly also. There was a chld this summer who clapsed from an unknown cause. A cheerleader just has adominal pains and dizziness and died two hours later. We need to be comitted to children's health. Thanks for letting me share a thought. My heart murmur is from a heart defect that was detected at three months of age. Never let a doctor tell you that one is too young or heart or any other health condition.

 

[Lynlw]

We (alot of heart parents) have been trying to make CHD screening routine at birth for all children in the US, with out much luck. As Wendy said an echo really isn't feasible for newborn screening, because of not only the cost but many hospitals can't do them and there aren't enough ped cards to read them all. However if they just would do a pulse ox and blood pressure on all 4 limbs, they would detect so many more CHDs than they do now. Actually I have been working on a bill w/ my congressman for newborn screening, CHD awareness, and more research but it isn't really getting anywhere. It doesn't make sense to me, they screen for so many conditions that are so much rarer than CHD (which are the leading birth defect and birth defect related deaths) but nothing for chd. It's very frustrating, Lyn www.caringbridge.org/nj/justinw

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Rebecca -

I scanned the entire page of the second link and couldn't find any link that sounded like the article you mentioned. Where is it listed on your link?
Under what subject heading?

'AL Capshaw'

 

[Rebecca]

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/gwinnett/0805/11heartscan.html

Scan provided for team finds heart defect in coach's son

By CARROLL ROGERS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/11/05

Parkview coach Cecil Flowe thought making heart scans available to his football players was a smart thing to do when he arranged for a portable device to be brought to the Panthers' photo day Saturday.

He had no idea how smart it would be for his immediate family

Flowe's 12-year-old son Patrick, who was tested along with 39 Parkview football players, came up positive for a congenital heart defect. He was diagnosed in a follow-up visit Monday with a cardiologist.

Patrick, a seventh-grader at Trickum Middle School and a youth football player, has a bicuspid aortic valve, a common heart valve defect. With minimal care and yearly checkups, he shouldn't have any problems, Flowe said. But that's because they know.

"The one kid screened [positive] was my own son, imagine that," Flowe said. "I'm just glad we had the scan done."

Patrick is at risk for bacterial endocarditis, which occurs when bacteria travel in the bloodstream through a faulty valve and into the lining of the heart. It can be lethal if undetected and untreated. Now they can significantly reduce those risks by giving Patrick antibiotics before dentist visits and monitoring the condition of his valve regularly.

The cost of the scan was $58, a bargain compared with the nearly $1,000 it would cost in a doctor's office. The expense is driven down by the higher volume of scans and the fact that the machines are otherwise idle on weekends.

A handful of high school athletes have died of sudden cardiac trauma in metro Atlanta in the past few years. Central Gwinnett football player Jermaine Howard was the latest to die suddenly after an offseason conditioning workout in April.

Routine screenings haven't exactly caught on yet. Heart Screens for Teens CEO Mickey King said Wednesday they are lucky to scan a couple thousand children in metro Atlanta per year.

"We could do 2,000 children on a Saturday," King said. "It's so sad."

The numbers might rise as parents are educated about the availability of scans and learn that problems like HCM ? hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a common cause of sudden cardiac death in teens ? can be prevented with early detection.

Smart Heart Scans founder Tom Vardase, who was at Parkview last Saturday, hopes to be invited back to Parkview to scan more athletes in coming months. In the meantime, he will offer scans Saturday at Northview, Aug. 20 at St. Pius and Sept. 10 at Chatta- hoochee.

 

[cocoalab]

I think this sounds great! I am wondering who reads these mini echos? $58 dollars is not very much. I would do it too. Last echo bill that I remember reading was over $800.

 

[Sherry]

Rebecca, thanks for starting this post. My 17 yr. old son is a varsity tennis player and is just starting his fourth and final season. I've always wondered about whether or not he could have a valvular defect like me. I still remember distinctly almost passing out on the tennis court myself 20 odd years ago in a high school tennis match and having to default to my archrival.

I appreciate you planting this seed. I think I'll bring it up at the next athletic booster meeting.