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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.
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.
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 added.
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 Texa