Aurora Central offers heart testing for area student athletes

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Updated: December 17, 2011 8:05AM

Concussions in student athletes have been in the news a lot recently, as schools attempt to put in protocols to protect students from brain damage.

But there’s another health and safety issue looming for students on the field or court.

Sudden cardiac events killed 22 students nationwide in the first half of 2011. The most common cause is an underlying congenital heart defect that is exacerbated by intense exercise on the field.

To identify those defects in student athletes, Aurora Central Catholic High School will host a screening for all interested student athletes, from any area school, on Saturday.

“These tests would be very expensive to go to a hospital and have them done,” said Jeff Johnson, athletic director at Aurora Central.

“We hope it’ll be a great service to our ACC community. It’s our hope that our people really take advantage of it.”

Aurora Central students will have preference if there’s a crowd, he said, but the event is open to any student athlete.

The screening will include an EKG test for $20. If recommended by an on-site cardiologist, a full echocardiogram will be free. Parents can also request the second test if not referred by the doctor for $75.

The testing will be brought to the school by the nonprofit Athletic Heart Metabolic & Cardiac Research Institute.

“We started with the impact testing and that was a positive move,” said Johnson. “We’ve been looking into something like this and the opportunity fell into our lap. It’s something we felt would be a great asset to our kids as far as prevention goes, and everyone’s concerned about safety, so this seemed to fit the bill.”

Testing will be from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Aurora Central Catholic High School, 1255 N. Edgelawn Drive, beginning in the library.

For registration and parental consent forms, visit www.athletic-heart.com. Students will need to bring both forms, signed by a parent or guardian, in order to be tested.