Friday, July 17, 2009

SUDDEN CARDIAC DEATH - A Possible Simple Method To Predict If You're Next

Sudden cardiac death is a major health problem and accounts for between 200,000 and 400,000 deaths every year in the US. Most of us only hear about it when it’s a friend or family member. For us sports physicians and athletic trainers, there’s that 1 in a million that happens on the field of play. The big problem is, the only way to detect these are expensive medical tests. Most or all of which are unfeasible for high school or city league teams or the private individual without health insurance to afford. Maybe, until now.

Most athletes who suffer from Acute Cardiomyopathy just simply drop dead on the field or on the court. It happened to the 17 year old son of one of my patients while his father was watching the game. Ironically and luckily, his father was a semi-retired cardiothoracic surgeon who immediately rushed into action, called 911 and started chest compressions. Ultimately he saved his life. Unfortunately this is not typically the case.

Fewer than 5 per cent of people who experience this combination of heart events are successfully resuscitated, which is why finding out who might be at risk within the general population is a major public health challenge.


The problem lies in the fact that unless mom, dad, grandma or grandpa were athletes and stressed their system to the max, there’s almost no way to tell if you are at risk of sudden cardiac death. A typical patient history, stethoscopic examination of the heart and even EKG won’t reveal the defect. Cardiac ultrasound is typically the only way to detect the underlying defect which is often only trigger with intense athletic activity.

However a recent study may have discovered a simple test to more accurately (and less expensively) identify people at risk for sudden cardiac death. Click here to read more about the study.

While this may be more telling for sudden cardiac death in the general population, it will be interesting to see where this goes for the predictiono of Acute Cardiomyopathy in athletes. As sports physicians often working on the field with athletes pushing themselves to the max, a simple evaluation to screen for this problem would a very welcomed tool.

This blog post is dedicated to the memory of my cousin Michelle Jodi Narson who died only a few years ago at the age of 33 from a sudden cardiac death event and to her mom Renee, father Ricky and younger brother Lonny who still live with broken hearts...



‘nuff said


Dr. Todd Narson


References:



Excessive heart rate increase during mild mental stress in preparation for exercise predicts sudden death in the general population.
Xavier Jouven , Peter J. Schwartz , Sylvie Escolano , Céline Straczek , Muriel Tafflet , Michel Desnos , Jean Philippe Empana , and Pierre Ducimetière. European Heart Journal, Advance Access published on July 2, 2009. DOI 10.1093/eurheartj/ehp160Eur Heart J 30: 1703-1710.


Dr. Narson is a 2-term past president of the Florida Chiropractic Association’s Council on Sports Injuries, Physical Fitness & Rehabilitation and was honored as the recipient of the coveted Chiropractic Sports Physician of the Year Award in 1999-2000. He is a Diplomate of the American Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians and practices in Miami Beach, Florida at the Miami Beach Family & Sports Chiropractic Center; A Facility for Natural Sports Medicine, Chiropractic, Physiotherapy, Rehab, Massage & Performance Enhancement

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