Findings convince them children throughout the state should
be screened

In the U.S. there is a debate about whether young athletes
should undergo mandatory screening before playing sports. But now, some doctors
in Texas have come to believe that all children, athletes or not, should be
screened.

Brandon Williams was only 13 years old when he suffered a
fatal heart attack. Austin Sergeev was even younger - only 11 - when his heart
stopped beating. Children as young as eight have experienced sudden cardiac
arrest. In Italy, young athletes have a thorough medical exam that includes an
electrocardiogram.

The program has reduced the number of incidents of sudden
cardiac arrest, or heart attack, in these athletes.

Such screening programs have not been widely available in
the U.S. Now a team of doctors in Texas is changing that. They are screening
1500 sixth-graders in Houston. Sam Franco-Jimenez had an electrocardiogram in
his school gym. “They are checking so I won't have no trouble in the future to
play sports,” he said.

Dr. John Higgins and a team of cardiologists are examining
all students, not just those interested in sports. Dr. Higgins wants to expand
this program to every sixth grader in the state. Of 94 children screened last
spring, seven had undiagnosed heart disease and two needed surgery.

“A lot of children with these problems, the first time
anyone knows about them is when they have cardiac arrest....and these are kids
who have seen their pediatricians, seen their doctors,” Dr. Higgins said.

Renee Suchowiecky says these screenings might have saved her
daughter's life.  “My daughter,
Nicole Katherine Suchowiecky, 11 years ago, 1998, collapsed on her playing
field of her school and died of a sudden cardiac arrest,” she stated.

Sudden heart failure occurs in approximately one out of
100,000 students each year. It is still a relatively low number compared to
deaths from other illnesses. But the Houston cardiologists want to expand this
program to include all students in the state of Texas.

Dr. Higgins says their findings so far underscore the need
for heart examinations in addition to regular pediatric care.  Renee Suchowiecky agrees.

“Even if you find only one, it's totally worth it,”
Suchowiecky said.

SOURCE:
Voice of America

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/usa/Doctors-In-Texas-Screen-Sixth-Graders-For-Heart-Defects-And-Disease-79077462.html