YOUNG ATHLETE'S HEART SCREENING PROGRAM

.... one while practicing for a national band competition and one while playing soccer.  Both of these deaths were caused by HCM.  This disease becomes manifest in mid-adolescence and rarely has identifiable symptoms.  Sports are particularly dangerous to patients with HCM, sometimes causing sudden death.  Considering that the prevalence of HCM is one in 500, a screening of 1,680 student athletes may produce as many as three students with HCM-and save their lives.

While Championship Hearts Foundation offers heart screenings at no charge to high school athletes, there are costs associated with each screening event.  Championship Hearts Foundation has streamlined the entire process to keep expenses under $25.00 per student athlete, thanks, in part, to the use of rent-free facilities and equipment through such hosts as Heart Hospital of Austin and Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas.  Area pediatric and adult cardiologists who participate in these screenings also do so at no cost.