Better sports physicals can save lives

Kiki McBride was a young and vibrant 14-year-old girl who was trying out for her high school basketball team on the evening of Nov. 15, 2005.

After about 40 minutes of warm-ups, McBride stopped for a water break and began complaining to a friend that she couldn't breathe. McBride then collapsed and began convulsing.

CPR was performed by one of the basketball coaches, but minutes after collapsing, McBride passed away of a congenital heart defect which had not previously been detected. McBride's death came as a tremendous shock to her family, especially to her mother, Tamela McBride. "I couldn't believe that my little girl's heart was just waiting to betray her," said McBride.

But there was something even more disturbing about the circumstances of McBride's death; earlier on the day of her death, McBride was given a sports physical in order to meet requirements for basketball tryouts.

Unfortunately, heart scans which would have detected McBride's heart defect such as an Electrocardiogram (EKG) are not a required part of testing during sports physicals in the United States.

McBride's story is not the first of this nature and studies show it won't be the last.

McBride was actually the third student-athlete to die suddenly in the Western Washington area in the last three years. Steven Brillhart, a junior at North Kitsap High School, died during a soccer game in 2004.

Merridy Stillwell, a Lake Stevens Middle School student, died at a cross country meet in 2003.

Both Stillwell and Brillhart had passed sports physicals and suffered from Hypertropic Cardiomyopathy, one of the most common heart conditions found in young athletes. Kiki's death and the surprising leniency of the United States' guidelines for sports physicals have inspired McBride to join the fight along with many other parents who have lost children to create stricter guidelines for sports physicals, specifically to make EKG scans a required part of a physical.

"It's important to include an EKG scan in sports physicals because the majority of the most common hidden heart conditions could be detected with a simple EKG," said McBride. "Also, doing an EKG would trigger something which would indicate the need for further cardiac screening, which would in turn prevent a student from getting their physical approved and prevent them from participating in physical activities." Currently in most cases, a sports physical in the United States consists of a form documenting medical history and a physical examination of the body, but other than listening to a heartbeat and asking questions concerning symptoms of heart defects, very little attention is paid to the health of the heart.

In the majority of all cases of sudden cardiac death in young athletes, victims were asymptomatic and showed no obvious signs of complications.

The biggest objection presently to making an EKG cardiac screening a required part of sports physicals is the cost it would take to perform the screening.

But different heart organizations, such as Heart Screens for Teens, can provide testing at local schools for as little as $35 to $58.

Meanwhile, Europe and Japan have already strengthened their sports physical guidelines. Currently, Italy administers EKG screenings to all competitive athletes. Japan not only screens athletes, but also all first and seventh graders. With these advancements being made in other countries, parents like Tamela McBride are left to question whether the United States values the lives of its youth.

"Since countries like Italy and Japan require these screenings and the U.S. does not, in a way it's like saying our children are not worth it," said McBride.

In the meantime, McBride is continuing to bring the issue of stricter sports physical guidelines to school board meetings and is working on educating the public about the risks of sudden cardiac death in young athletes.

"I hope to bring further awareness to people to let them know that this could happen to any child," said McBride. "I want to prompt parents to ask questions about the tools that are available for testing and the procedures available to correct these conditions."