By Kay Quinn, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 10, 2007
Screening young people, specifically athletes, for potentially fatal heart conditions can be likened to looking for a needle in a haystack.
But when it comes to diagnosing the most common cause of sudden death in active people over 25, being aware of some key symptoms may help in identifying a possibly fatal heart problem.
"I was real short of breath," said Lisa Risenhoover, 34, of St. Peters. "I''d tell my husband, ''is the air not moving in here?'' Maybe I''m too hot."
At the time, Risenhoover was 22 and pregnant with her first child. When the symptoms persisted, her OB-GYN sent her to a cardiologist, who diagnosed hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
"It''s the most common cardiovascular condition, congenital cardiovascular condition, and it affects one in 500 individuals," said Dr. Keith Mankowitz, Washington University cardiologist at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy causes a thickening of the walls of the heart. More than 100 gene abnormalities have been found to trigger it. It can be passed along in families or develop from a spontaneous gene mutation.
Symptoms of the disorder include shortness of breath, fainting, palpitations of the heart and sometimes chest pain or pressure. But Mankowitz says sometimes the first symptom in an otherwise healthy, young person is sudden death.
"If any young kid has any symptoms of shortness of breath or passing out or chest pain, they need to see a specialist to make sure they don''t have this condition called HCM."
The condition was found to have caused the death of Adam Litteken, 16, a Francis Howell Central High School student, on Oct. 2. Litteken was warming up on the ice with his hockey team at the St. Peters Rec-Plex when he collapsed.
Risenhoover feels fortunate that her disease was found in her first pregnancy. Her son Brenden is now 11. She gave birth to another happy, healthy son named Devon, a year ago.
That first pregnancy "was the scariest day," said Risenhoover, "but it turned out to be the biggest blessing of my life. And then Devon was just another blessing for us."
Risenhoover''s disorder is managed with medication. But she says she''s still very aware of the symptoms.
"It''s scary," she said. "Most days, I just go through my life and I''m just a normal person like anybody, and then I have a bad day and it''s my condition acting up and the weather is bad, my hormones are bad, I''m doing too much, you know, stress in my life."
Some patients diagnosed with the disorder may need surgery. All patients with it need to avoid physical overexertion.
"Keeping my heart rate and blood pressure down is what''s important," said Risenhoover, "as well as staying hydrated, and no stress, and no exercise and just really watching the stimulants," like caffeine.