School News

Should high school athletes be screened for heart trouble before taking to the practice field?

Once thought to be exceedingly rare, sudden cardiac death is far more prevalent among young athletes than previously believed, recent research has shown. In a policy statement published in the journal Pediatrics last month, the American Academy of Pediatrics estimated that 2,000 people under the age of 25 die from sudden cardiac arrest in the United States every year.

Pediatricians need to recognize the warning signs and appropriately manage patients with sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), according to a policy statement issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and published online March 26 in Pediatrics.

Robert Campbell, M.D., and colleagues from the AAP's Section on Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery, drafted a policy statement on pediatric SCA in an effort to increase pediatricians' knowledge of the incidence and spectrum of causes of SCA as well as disease-specific presentations, the role of screening and genetic testing, and aspects of secondary prevention.

HUMESTON, IA - Beginning this school year, students in Iowa’s public and private schools must take a class in cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as a requirement to graduate.

Members of the Class of 2012 at Wayne County’s three high schools, Mormon Trail, Seymour, and Wayne Community, have met that requirement. They took the American Heart Association (AHA) Heartsaver AED class which involves adult, child, and infant CPR, the use of an automated external defibrillator (AED), and how to help a victim who is choking. The students practiced along with a video and at the end of the class had to show proficiency in CPR and the use of an AED. All successful students were then issued certification cards by the AHA.  Several staff members at the schools were also certified earlier in the year during in-service days.

Slidell, LA--She did it. A petite brunette who lost her son Sept. 29, 2011, mere months ago, to heart disease, Ann Hebert was determined that no other mom would have to go through what she did. In working through their grief, she and husband Marius formed the Jeremy Michael Hebert Trust Fund with the Northshore Community Foundation and began raising money to provide automated external defibrillators (AEDs) for each school in the parish.

“I never want any other family to go through what we went through if it could be helped,” she said. Thursday night it was announced they had accomplished their initial goal.

At the February meeting of the St. Tammany Parish School Board, Feb. 9, it was announced that there would be a Jerseys for Jeremy Day Feb. 29 to raise funds for the Foundation. Students wore their favorite team jersey for a $1 donation. In fact, many did not wear their jersey, but donated the money anyway. One student said, “I made $2 and want to give it all.”

Each year, between one and six of every 100,000 U.S. children are a victim of sudden cardiac death, according to research published in Pediatrics. In many of these cases, underlying, undiagnosed heart trouble is responsible. A new study suggests that routine mass electrocardiogram (EKG) screening could help identify these problems earlier, and potentially save children's lives.

Although EKG exams, which record electrical activity in the heart, could help identify these heart problems, many questions remain about how and when to use them.

In addition to earning credits in subjects like English and science, Missouri high school students could be required to be proficient in CPR.

House Bill 1337, sponsored by Rep. Rick Stream, R-District 94, would take effect in fall 2014 if passed. The bill requires students to be certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation to graduate high school.

“Instruction may be embedded in any health education course,” the bill states. “Instruction shall be based on a program established by the American Heart Association or the American Red Cross, or through a nationally recognized program based on the most current national evidence-based emergency cardiovascular care guidelines, and psychomotor skills development shall be incorporated into the instruction.”

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. Most often SCA occurs as the result of ventricular fibrillation (VF), an abrupt irregular rhythm that causes the heart to quiver ineffectively, rather than pumping normally.

In lacrosse and other sports such as baseball and hockey, however, another unpredictable and relatively uncommon source of cardiac death has been recognized — commotio cordis. Commotio cordis can occur when a blunt injury to the chest sends a small electrical charge to the heart. If this occurs within a specific time frame — just milliseconds — relative to the heart's electrical cycle, VF may be induced.