Young Hearts for Life looks for cardiac conditions in teens

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

Dr. Joseph Marek has too often seen the agony in parents’ eyes as they look to him for an explanation as to why their seemingly healthy teenager suddenly collapsed and died from an undiagnosed cardiac condition.

So when he began reading about some promising results from a screening program in Italy using electrocardiogram testing on young adult athletes, he decided to do the same thing.

In 2006 Marek, a clinical cardiologist with Midwest Heart Specialists, started the Midwest Heart Foundation’s Young Hearts for Life program in which lifesaving EKG tests are given in area high schools to participating students every two years.

District 203 schools, which tested students last year, has offered the program three times. This year District 204 schools are participating for the second time. Some 1,150 students at Metea Valley High School were tested last month. Students at Waubonsie Valley High School were tested Tuesday and Wednesday. Students at Neuqua Valley High School will be tested April 14 and 15 in the main building and April 21 in the Gold building.

The cost of the test through the program is $10 to $15 per student, depending on the number of students tested. This year, District 204 has received contributions of $30,000 from the Indian Prairie Educational Foundation and $25,000 from Edward Hospital, as well as donations from parent organizations.

In District 203, the program has received donations from Edward Hospital, the Gene Drendel Family Memorial Fund, a grant from the Naperville Jaycees and fundraising efforts by student PE leaders at the high schools. The district continues to look to the community for additional support.

All high school students are eligible for the EKG. Participating students must have a signed consent by a parent or legal guardian. It is recommended students be tested every two years.

Marek said one of the goals is to raise awareness about sudden cardiac death in young people.

“We were very thoughtful about this program,” Marek said. “This isn’t about going out there and doing EKGs. What we wanted to do is have a comprehensive solution for this problem of sudden death in the community.”

In the last five years, more than 55,000 young adults participated in the program. On average, about 2.5 percent of EKGs show something of concern. More than 1,000 students have needed further evaluation and hundreds were diagnosed with cardiac conditions.

Both Districts 203 and 204 have suffered the loss of students to sudden cardiac death in recent years. In 2004, 17-year-old Neuqua Valley High School basketball player Roosevelt Jones III collapsed on the court and died of an undetected heart condition. The following year, Naperville North senior Kathryn Bender died while waiting backstage to perform in Waubonsie Valley High School’s Orchesis dance troupe’s annual Fox Valley Dance Showcase. In 2008, Waubonsie Valley High School junior Zumari Doby died while playing in a basketball tournament at Plainfield South High School. In 2009, 14-year-old Naperville North freshman Michelle Fahle died from a previously undiagnosed heart condition while suffering from the H1N1 flu.

And a recent spate of heart-related deaths among high school athletes nationwide has people asking, “What can we do?” Those include Wes Leonard of Fennville, Mich., who collapsed and died shortly after hitting a game-winning shot on March 3.

Matt Hammerdorfer, a 17-year-old rugby player and junior at Fort Collins (Colo.) Poudre, died March 5 during a match after taking a hit to his chest. His death was attributed to cardiomegaly and biventricular hypertrophy. (The Mayo Clinic describes cardiomegaly as an enlarged heart and hypertrophy as the thickening of the muscle in the heart’s pumping chambers.)

Javaris Brinkley, a 16-year-old basketball player and student at Gaston (N.C.) College Preparatory, died March 8 after a recreational game at a local church. His death was simply described as “heart failure.” A specific cause of death has not yet been determined.

Robert Garza, a 16-year-old Roma (Texas) High basketball player, died March 12 while competing in an AAU game. Preliminary autopsy results show an enlarged heart. More specific information isn’t expected for another six weeks.

According to reports in local newspapers, both Hammerdorfer and Brinkley were aware that they had heart conditions. Leonard and Garza, on the other hand, were not.

The cause of death for 17-year-old Gainesville (Fla.) Eastside soccer and track athlete Sarah Landauer, who died March 9 after collapsing after a run two days earlier, has not yet been officially been determined. According to a report in the Gainesville Sun, Landauer had collapsed in another track practice in late February but had been cleared by doctors to participate in athletic activity.

Johneen Davis, program director of Young Hearts for Life, said Young Hearts for Life can be a life-saver. In 2009, more than 5,700 District 204 high school students received the EKGs, which identified 113 students as needing further evaluation by their doctor.

“It can happen to anyone,” said Davis.

She knows that from experience. Not only does she inform parents when their child’s test requires further review, she also was one of the parents who got that same frightening news two years ago.

Her son, Russell Penicook, was tested in 2009 at Waubonsie Valley High School. The results showed an abnormality. Additional tests run by his doctor showed no problems, but a subsequent EKG done before he went to college indicated intermittent Wolff-Parkinson White syndrome, also known as WPW. Symptoms can include rapid fluttering and pounding, dizziness, fainting and light-headedness. Some students diagnosed with WPW require a surgical or nonsurgical procedure to treat the condition. Russell, however, was asymptomatic and did not require any treatment.

Now a freshman at Illinois State University, he said he doesn’t worry about the condition nor has he taken his lifestyle down a notch. He still plays volleyball and works out every day. He said if he should ever begin experiencing symptoms, he’ll know what to do.

“You never know if you could have something,” he said. “I never thought I had a problem. ... I found out something about me. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

One of the most common causes of sudden cardiac death in young people is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a genetic condition characterized by abnormal thickening of the heart muscle. HCM accounts for more than one-third of sudden cardiac death cases. Less common are WPW, arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia, Long QT syndrome and Brugada syndrome.

Because not all heart conditions show up on an EKG, schools must be prepared to face a sudden cardiac episode. Marek said staff members and others should be trained in CPR and the use of automated external defibrillators. He said there have been many occasions when a student has collapsed and died because no one knew how to use the AED.

“That’s a tragedy on top of a tragedy,” he said.

Studies underestimate the number of young people dying from these conditions, Marek said. A third of these deaths don’t reach the newspapers because they happen at home and not on a playing field.

“Some of these conditions we are looking for aren’t something that puts them at risk when they are running down the basketball court,” he said. “Some of them strike them when they are sleeping.”

Marek and Davis credit community volunteers with making the program a success. More than 5,000 volunteers have been trained to do the EKGs.

At a recent District 204 board meeting, Jason Altenbern, the district’s community relations coordinator, told the board that one parent reported the test saved her son’s life two years ago.

Board President Curt Bradshaw said that makes the program worthwhile.

“Even if all of this was for that one student, it was worth the effort,” he said.

Carla Swank of Yahoo! Sports contributed to this article.