Hospital Plans Free Heart Screenings for Teens in Rochester Hills

It was what she called "mother's intuition" that made Lisa Adamczyk drive through a snowstorm last January to keep an appointment for her daughter, Rachel, to have a heart screening designed for teens.

"Something was nagging at me," said the Macomb Township mom. Rachel, 14 at the time, was a three-sport athlete. But the Adamczyks had a family history of heart problems.

"I guess I wanted peace of mind," Lisa Adamczyk said.

That screening, organized through Beaumont Hospitals, took place at Clarkston High School. During the free screening, teen-agers like Rachel received a blood pressure check, a physical exam and an electrocardiogram, or ECG. It was after that particular test that doctors performing the screening pulled Lisa Adamczyk aside and said they detected an abnormality with her daughter's heart.

Soon after that initial screening, Rachel saw specialists and underwent more tests. She eventually was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy — thickening of the heart muscle. It is one of the conditions the heart screening is designed to detect.

Since that day, Lisa Adamcyzk has been an outspoken supporter of heart screenings for teens. "I tell everybody I know," she said. "It's so simple to do, and it can potentially help prevent a horrible outcome."

Beaumont's next Healthy Heart Check screening will take place from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 26 at Sola Life & Fitness, 1555 E. South Blvd. in Rochester Hills. 

The screening will include a medical history, blood pressure check, an ECG, and a “quick-look” echocardiogram (an ultrasound image of the heart).

It's the type of cardiac screening is generally not included in the routine physical required before participating in school sports; it is designed for high school students ages 13 to 18. (Younger children are not typically screened because structural abnormalities, including abnormal heart muscle thickening, which is the most common cause of sudden death in the United States, do not become apparent until later in adolescence, according to a Beaumont news release.)

In total, Beaumont has screened 8,556 student athletes since the program began in 2007.

There is no charge to participate, though preregistration is required. Call 800-328-8542 or visit http://heart.beaumont.edu/upcoming-student-heart-screenings to register online.

Beaumont holds free community screenings on an ongoing basis; you can also register for a student heart check at Ernst Cardiovascular Center at Beaumont, Royal Oak for $25. 

Lisa Adamczyk said Rachel, now 14, is on medication for her heart condition and has yearly tests on her heart. Although she is not able to play basketball or run regularly anymore, she has embraced other, low-impact sports. She recently made the varsity bowling team at Notre Dame Prep, where she is a sophomore.

"We are really proud of her, and we are lucky to know about her condition," Lisa Adamczyk said.