My son is an accomplished athlete. He participates in local, regional, national and international events and has been very successful. He trains hard. Sometimes during practice he will feel dizzy or light headed. He has never passed out. Sometimes while not training or competing (while at rest sitting and watching TV) he will tell me his heart hurts or it is beating fast. Our local high school offered a heart screening and during this screening we learned he might have LV Hypertrophy non-compaction. He is adopted but I do know that no relatives have died of SCA. We have our first in office doctor appointment on Thursday morning. So we are early in the game. He had an EKG and an ECO and was screened for a heart murmur. The cardiologist said my son might need to stop competing in his sports at a high level and play for recreation. My son only has one speed and that is all out, all the time. He tells me he wants to continue to compete. I would like to hear your thoughts about allowing my son to make this decision to continue to compete. What are the risks and what are the odds? Is anyone else still competing at a high level even with the risks of SCA?
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Hi, Thank you for reaching
Hi, Thank you for reaching out. The physician may recommend primary prevention implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) therapy for your son. If this is the case, it may be good to know that researchers at Yale University have found that athletes with heart conditions such as HCM who have ICDs can still engage in vigorous athletic activity. See this article for more information.
As above, we have done a
As above, we have done a study, published in the journal Circulation in 2013, in which we followed 372 athletes with ICDs who were continuing to participate, and during the mean follow up of 2.5 years, there were no adverse events. About 70 were high-school-varsity-type athletes. A few thoughts about this data--it does not mean that every athlete is safe to play any sport, but rather, that many athletes with ICDs are able to compete. There were a number of athletes with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in the study, although few non-compaction (which is less common). There were also very few high-contact sports like football or hockey (you did not mention what sports he does or his age).
Whether your son will benefit from an ICD will of course be determined by the doctor that you see, who knows the most about the details of his particular situation. If the doctor does not feel he needs an ICD, there are no data about safety of sports for people with non-compaction.
The best thing to do is talk to your own doctor about the risks for your son. Please also feel free to get in touch with me directly.
Rachel Lampert, MD
Yale University
Dr Lampert's reply
And that sort of connectivity is what makes this site awesome!
Thank you, Dr. Lampert