Darshak M. Sanghavi, MD, associate professor of pediatrics, and David Kane, MD, and Michael C. Fahey, MD, assistant professors of pediatrics, talked to the Worcester Telegram and Gazette about screening youth athletes for symptoms that could lead to sudden cardiac arrest. Working with the Nick of Time foundation, established to honor the life of Nicholas Varrenti, who died of sudden cardiac arrest during a high school football game in 2004 at the age of 16, the three physicians were among a group of volunteers at Auburn High School’s free heart screening event over on Sept. 29.
“What we find is that these kinds of screenings are clearly serving a need because regular checkups do not involve catching hidden heart conditions,” said Dr. Sanghavi.
Data collected from the thousands of Nick of Time screenings has revealed that about one in 300 children have a major cardio problem of some type, Sanghavi said. The American Red Cross reports that more than 300,000 Americans are victims of sudden cardiac arrest every year; of those, only about 5 percent survive.
