Heart Checkups Advised for Kids Who Play Sports

Key Takeaways:Sudden cardiac arrest is a leading cause of death among young athletes.Pre-participation heart screenings are advised for athletes ages 12 and above.Cardiac tests can detect 99% of abnormalities.Heart defects don’t prohibit kids from playing sports.The fact that sudden cardiac arrest is a leading cause of death in young athletes seems illogical, provoking an obvious question: “That’s the point,” says Children’s Hospital Los Angeles cardiologist Paul Kantor, MBBCh, MSc, FRCPC.

University Hospitals Launches Program to Determine Need/Distribute Lifesaving Cardiac Defibrillators in Northeast Ohio Schools

University Hospitals (UH) is partnering with the Cleveland Browns, Make Them Know Your Name Foundation (MTKYN) and Kaulig Companies to ensure every school in Northeast Ohio is equipped with the latest life-saving technology and training in case an athlete suffers cardiac arrest.

Learning to save lives can start as early as age 4, according to new scientific statement

Building the skills for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can begin as early as age 4 and layer on as children get older, so that by age 10 they may be able to perform effective chest compressions on training manikins, according to a new scientific statement from ILCOR, the American Heart Association and the European Resuscitation Council.

Predicting how CPR will work minutes ahead

Every year, between 1,200 and 1,500 patients suffer a cardiac arrest in Norwegian hospitals. Rapid and sound treatment is absolutely essential in helping these patients survive. Even if a patient suffers a cardiac arrest within the hospital’s four walls, the prognosis is poor. Only one in four survives. However, a new study suggests that easily available informaiton from the patient’s own ECG could change the outcome.

Older, Black, and low-income pregnant patients more likely to suffer cardiac arrest when hospitalized for delivery

A study of pregnant women hospitalized during delivery found that cardiac arrest occurred in about 1 in 9,000 deliveries, a rate that is higher than previously reported estimates. Cardiac arrest was more common among patients who were older, were non-Hispanic Black, had Medicare or Medicaid, or had underlying medical conditions. The findings are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Learn CPR and Lower Your Stress: Mount Sinai Cardiologists Emphasize Their Importance During American Heart Month

Doctors warn about lack of knowledge of administering CPR, especially in high-risk groups, and the rise of stress-related heart issues

Story Tips from Johns Hopkins Experts on COVID-19

Vaccines take time to work. After getting a COVID-19 vaccine, it takes a while for the immune system to fully respond and provide protection from the virus. For the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines, it takes up to two weeks after the second shot to become appropriately protected.

Closing the Racial Disparity Gap in Survival After In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

In-hospital cardiac arrests (IHCA) represent catastrophic and often terminal events. Despite investments to improve the quality of resuscitation efforts, fewer than 25% of all patients that experience cardiac arrests in hospitals survive to discharge, and survival varies significantly across hospitals and by race. Until now, few have been able to specify reasons for the between-hospital differences.

How Do Outcomes for In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Differ in Patients Treated with Long-Term Dialysis?

• Among patients who experience cardiac arrest while in the hospital, those on dialysis were less likely to have a shockable rhythm and more likely to be outside of the intensive care unit at the time of arrest compared with patients not on dialysis.
• Patients on dialysis had lower scores for resuscitation quality, and they were less likely to have defibrillation within 2 minutes.
• Patients on dialysis had a similar likelihood of surviving to hospital discharge, and they had better neurological function at the time of discharge.

Bystander CPR Less Likely for People Living in Hispanic Neighborhoods Compared to Non-Hispanic Neighborhoods

People living in predominately Hispanic neighborhoods are less likely to receive CPR from a bystander following an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest compared to people living in non-Hispanic neighborhoods, researchers from Penn Medicine and the Duke University of School of Medicine reported in the journal Circulation. This same group also had a lower likelihood of survival.

‘M-RISE’ Research Program Aims to Prevent Brain Damage Caused by Cardiac Arrest

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – For the more than 350,000 Americans that experience an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest each year, less than 1 in 10 of those treated will survive with good neurologic function. “Survival for these patients decreases with every minute there is a delay…