PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) -
A new screening program aims to prevent sudden cardiac arrest in youth athletes.
Providence Heart and Vascular Institute began offering free heart screenings for kids ages 12 through 18 earlier this month.
"We have (already) found some abnormalities that we think should require further follow up with cardiologists," said Dr. James Beckerman, a cardiologist. "So we feel lucky to find it in this kind of setting."
While deadly heart attacks in young athletes are rare, they have a large impact on the community when they do happen.
"I started to talk to some of the families who have been touched by these tragedies, who have been involved in these tragedies and I really felt like I had to do something," said Beckerman. He worked with Providence Medical Centers to begin holding the youth heart screening clinics every Tuesday afternoon.
A middle school student in La Center, WA, and one in Salem died following collapses at sports practices this year.
Those deaths prompted Denise Keep to bring her daughter, an equestrian, and son, a baseball player, to the screenings this week.
"We had been talking about having the kids' hearts tested anyway because you hear about those kids collapsing on the field and it's just heart-wrenching," said Keep. "You're just sick for the whole family. The fact that maybe they could have known, with a little bit of testing."
At the Play Smart Youth Heart Screenings, young athletes fill out a family heart health history, have their blood pressure checked and receive an electrocardiogram (EKG), which monitors a heart's rhythm and chambers.
If an abnormality is found, a patient will receive further testing.
The five- to 10-minute screening process is more involved than a regular sports physical, which typically involves just the family history, a blood pressure check and a physical exam.
"Unfortunately those interventions only catch about 3 percent of the abnormalities we're worried about," said Beckerman, "whereas an electrocardiogram can catch 70 to 80 percent of those abnormalities."
EKGs don't catch every possible heart defect and can sometimes detect an abnormality that does not exist.
"That's why I think screenings should be voluntary, but I also think it should be available," said Beckerman.
He said it can be very difficult for a young athlete who discovers they have a heart defect and may have to stop playing sports, a decision that must be made by the family and their physician.
"It can be very stressful and frightening, but hopefully will turn out more positively that we found it," he said.
Both of Keep's children had normal results on their screening. Knowing the results, either way, she said, was important.
"We talked about that in the car on the way out there because my son wanted to know, what if they find something wrong," said Keep. "I said, 'We would just deal with it. You just figure out. At least you know, you have knowledge.'"
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