Why you should get your heart checked?
At ECGcheck we conduct a cardiac screening service with special emphasis placed on interpretation of the electrocardiogram. At ECGcheck we are aware that many conditions can cause sudden cardiac death. Some of these are congenital conditions and can cause abnormalities in the electrical conduction system of the heart. An electrocardiogram is used to try to uncover these abnormal patterns.
These abnormal electrical patterns are rare and these is no guarantee that screening will uncover them. We know also that having a cardiac screen with results that are within normal limits can not guarantee a person will not experience an abnormal heart related condition in the future.
However at ECGcheck we believe that to have a cardiac screen with ECG is a positive and beneficial step. We know statistically there will be a small number of false positives but at ECGcheck our focus is to try to uncover the unknown true positives.
In Italy it is mandatory for anyone who plays competitive sports to complete our type of cardiac screening. As a result they have dramatically reduced the incidence of sudden cardiac death.
60 to 80 young people die of sudden cardiac death annually in Ireland. One person under the age of 35 dies from an inherited cardiac condition every week in Ireland.
Echocardiogram
The echocardiogram involves you lying on your back or side. A physiologist will put a special jelly on to a probe which is then placed on your chest and moved around until a good quality image of your heart is recorded. Many different views of your heart will be taken to give a better idea of what the heart looks like. The sound waves create images of your heart which you may be able to see on the monitor. You may hear a pulsing ‘whooshing sound’. This is the ultrasound recording the blood flowing through your heart. The technician will record the images of your heart. The whole procedure is painless may last up to 15 minutes.This cardiac screening echocardiogram will place special emphasis on cardiac size and function. Cardiac valve function and blood-flow will also be recorded and measured.
The images are reviewed by a consultant cardiologist.
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy screening.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or HCM, is the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes. This cardiomyopathy is frequently asymptomatic until sudden death so
its detection and management requires screening. Screening by medical history, physical exam including ECG is ineffective indicating abnormalities in a small
percentage of people who subsequently suffered sudden cardiac death. However using echocardiography the detection rates increase to over 90%.
HCM is a genetic disorder that causes the heart muscle to thicken without any apparent reason. This thickening, especially found in HCM, can cause dangerous heart rhythms.
The thickening also can interfere with the pumping efficiency of the heart. HCM occurs in approximately 2 per 1000 people in the general population.
Test Results / ECG examples
