For the first time, personnel at Fulton Medical Center will be offering free student cardiovascular screenings, Marketing director Andrea Bedrosian said.
"This is a free event for students 11-25 geared towards young athletes," she said. "This is the hospital's February Heart Month big event."
The event will be 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Feb. 16 at the medical center. Registration is required. Call Bedrosian at 573-592-6536 or email her at [email protected].
The screening takes 30 minutes and is non-invasive. A (2D) ultrasound and 12-lead EKG will be used, and students will be asked to remove all clothing from the waist up. Gowns will be provided.
This screening is designed to rule out hypertropic cardiomyopathy, which is an abnormal thickening of the heart muscle making it harder for the heart to pump blood. People with this condition may experience shortness of breath, leg swelling, chest pain and fainting. More severe symptoms include irregular heartbeats, heart failure and sudden cardiac death.
Screening will also check the bicuspid aortic valves for congenital conditions.
A hospital cardiologist will be interpreting the screenings during the week following the event and will reach out to participants if abnormalities are detected.
If screenings are abnormal, families should immediately seek follow-up care with their personal physicians.
Undetected heart conditions are causing about 70 competitive athletes to die from sudden cardiac arrest annually, according to information from the hospital. One study said the number could be as high as 110 individuals. According to that information, the risk is three times greater in competitive athletes under the age of 25 than in other young people.