Parents of Active Teens Encouraged to Sign up Kids for Free Life-Saving Heart Screening

n October 19, 2024, the Cigarroa Clinic and Driscoll Hospital are partnering with Championship Hearts Foundation to conduct a free heart screening for Laredo area teenagers ages 14-18. This event will occur from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Cigarroa Clinic, 1710 E. Saunders St., Tower B, 5th Floor, Laredo, TX 78041.

The screening includes a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) and a limited two-dimensional echocardiogram (ECHO, or picture of the heart) to detect hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and several other conditions predisposing to sudden cardiac death. The ECG and ECHO are noninvasive, painless, safe studies that cost over $700. A standard pre-participation sports physical examination does not offer an ECG and echocardiogram. 

“Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) is often silent before a life-threatening heart rhythm problem and can go undetected by listening to the heart alone; an ECG and ECHO are needed to detect this disease,” explained Claire Cigarroa, M.D., Pediatric Cardiologist. “Partnering with Driscoll Hospital and Champions Heart Foundation, we are proud to be able to offer free screening for this dangerous heart condition.” 

Championship Hearts Foundation is a non-profit organization that prevents sudden cardiac death by screening teens for HCM and other cardiac abnormalities. The organization has provided large heart screens to teenagers in Texas for 20 years. Their mission is to prevent sudden cardiac death in teens. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a heart muscle disease with no physical symptoms and often cannot be detected by listening to the heart. Many times, the first sign of the disease is a life-threatening heartbeat problem. 

Registration for the FREE heart screening is available through champhearts.org. To receive the heart screening, participants must register and have a signed parental waiver before the event. Parents can print the waiver from the website or sign it on the screening day.