Although the school
year has ended,
thousands of student
athletes across Long Island
have already signed up to play
sports in the fall. Huntington
Hospital electrophysiologist Kent
Stephenson, MD, is working
diligently to ensure that when
they take to the field, their risk of
succumbing to sudden cardiac
death, a phenomenon that has
claimed the lives of three young
athletes on Long Island over the
past year, is minimal.
 The two main lifethreatening
heart abnormalities
in youngsters are hypertrophic
cardiomyopathy and Long QT
syndrome. Each of these has a
telltale fingerprint. Patients with
hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a
disease of the heart muscle, can
develop lethal rhythm problems
with strenuous exercise. Long
QT syndrome is a heart rhythm
abnormality. Both have a
tendency to be inherited, making
family history a critical part of the
pre-participation questionnaire.
Most often there are red flags,
such as shortness of breath,
palpitations and passing out
during strenuous exercise.
Automatic external
defibrillators (AEDs) are mandatory
at schools across Long
Island.While an AED can
save the life of a person who
collapses with a sudden cardiac
episode, Dr. Stephenson says
that prevention by identifying
those at risk for an episode has a
better chance of saving lives.
“With each minute that
passes after a cardiac arrest,
the odds of survival go down
by ten percent,” Dr.
Stephenson said.
Under the best of
circumstances, it
can take three to
four minutes for an
AED to be located
and deployed.
Since the first sign of a
serious cardiac problem can
be a life-threatening event, Dr.
Stephenson is advocating for
more stringent, uniform screening
of student athletes prior to
participation in sports.
In 1995, The American Heart
Association recommended that
school districts screen athletes with
a questionnaire that incorporates
12 specific questions designed
to uncover those children at risk
for cardiac problems. A nationwide survey conducted in 2005 found
that 80 percent of states used
questionnaires that incorporate
nine or more of those 12 AHA
recommended questions.
Dr. Stephenson recently conducted
his own study of Suffolk
County’s 59 public schools and
found that only 16.4 percent use
nine or more of the AHA’s 12
questions.
Alarmed by this finding, he
recently met with the Superintendents
of all Suffolk County
schools to share his concerns and
discuss the importance of uniform
screening questionnaires.
Upon receiving the information,
the Superintendents were equally
concerned and receptive to the
AHA questionnaire.
“We have an opportunity to
reach out to local schools and
try to create uniform screening
strategies. My goal is to encourage
school districts to adopt the
AHA-recommended screening
guidelines. Future goals would
include extending this project
throughout Long Island and also
to standardize AED utilization
and implementation across
Long Island high schools,” Dr.
Stephenson said. “If one life can
be saved, this whole venture will
be worthwhile.” //
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