This was about the age I ran my first half. The age when you are soon to leave your parents' nest and venture into the world. Her parents said her training had been going well, so she wasn't some weekend warrior. Couldn't imagine feeling so accomplished one moment and then dropping to the ground the next.
Wonder what she died of?
Most likely hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Sounds like the same thing that hit Ryan Shay.
A simple ECG screens for this condition. EVERY athlete should get screened.
My school is actually in the same district as her. And its really been pretty sad as we lost a classmate to cancer the same day Cameron died after her race. But she was a competitive swimmer, so obviously she had a decent cardiovascular base. But let me be clear she was by no means an experienced runner. She had about three months of training before the race, and while that could potentially be enough time, I don't know what her training plan was. From what I understand she had never been a runner before this and likely had no idea what she was doing.
It is truly very sad, and while I admire her efforts. I hope that she was truly prepared and did not increase her risk of being hurt by not understanding why it takes to go from zero miles to racing 13.1 in three months. She was in the process though, of organizing a race to raise awareness for suicide prevention. It has really expanded since her death you can check out the Facebook page for the race here:
coooooore wrote:
My school is actually in the same district as her. And its really been pretty sad as we lost a classmate to cancer the same day Cameron died after her race. But she was a competitive swimmer, so obviously she had a decent cardiovascular base. But let me be clear she was by no means an experienced runner. She had about three months of training before the race, and while that could potentially be enough time, I don't know what her training plan was. From what I understand she had never been a runner before this and likely had no idea what she was doing.
It is truly very sad, and while I admire her efforts. I hope that she was truly prepared and did not increase her risk of being hurt by not understanding why it takes to go from zero miles to racing 13.1 in three months. She was in the process though, of organizing a race to raise awareness for suicide prevention. It has really expanded since her death you can check out the Facebook page for the race here:
https://www.facebook.com/speakup5k?fref=ts
She actually went to my school, can't say i knew very well (i'm a junior, she's a sophomore) but from what other's are saying she was actually a really nice girl. I cant imagine what her parents feel like though, seeing your kid finish a race then collapse yards later.
An EKG is not the test of choice for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Many people with HCM will have normal EKG's. The test of choice is an echocardiogram. This issue is starting to get more discussion. Echo's are not inexpensive and are actually fairly time consuming to perform. The big debate is whether routine screening should be done ( high cost for fairly low yield).
Tragic event. I feel for the family.
Well Bob, you might want to go back and read what the guy wrote. ECG (echocardiogram), NOT EKG.
bobinvirginia wrote:
An EKG is not the test of choice for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Many people with HCM will have normal EKG's. The test of choice is an echocardiogram. This issue is starting to get more discussion. Echo's are not inexpensive and are actually fairly time consuming to perform. The big debate is whether routine screening should be done ( high cost for fairly low yield).
Tragic event. I feel for the family.
bobinvirginia wrote:
An EKG is not the test of choice for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Many people with HCM will have normal EKG's. The test of choice is an echocardiogram. This issue is starting to get more discussion. Echo's are not inexpensive and are actually fairly time consuming to perform. The big debate is whether routine screening should be done ( high cost for fairly low yield).
Tragic event. I feel for the family.
You are correct, however ECG's are abnormal in hypertrophic patients 75-95% of the time (http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/348503-overview). Considering ECG's are usually way cheaper, it's easier to get people to do them. You could catch a lot more of this before it happened.
Many more people die from EKGs and ECGs than they do from HCM.
I don't necessarily disagree with you, but you are way too hasty to come to your conclusion. We would have to take the lower number of 75% if we are seriously going to screen the population to be safe. The prevalence of HCM is about 2/1000 (1) in general young populations. You'll miss 1 case out of every 2000 people screened.
This would be acceptable, as you'd catch 3 that wouldn't have otherwise been caught (keep in mind the episode of presentation doesn't have to be death, it could be syncope, angina, SOB, etc), but there are going to be a ton of false positives due to the natural septal enlargement of athlete hearts (2) due to athletic conditioning, and they will have to undergo EHCO afterwards. Add to this the multitude of other incidental findings the EKG will pick up and you have on your hands a real debate about the effectiveness of using EKGs to screen for HCM in athletes. In short, when considering the PPV in the context of the low prevalence and highly confounding nature of athletes, the EKG is a very debatable screening tool.
Just saying, you seem very sure and it doesn't appear you've fully thought this through from an epidemiological standpoint. I would bet if you did a long term screening study of EKGs in athletes you would find no real decrease in mortality and a huge increase in medical cost. But, this study is definitely warranted as the question has merit. On a separate note, do we know for sure it was HCM? Could have been a lot of things.
1.
https://circ.ahajournals.org/content/92/4/785.full
2.
ECG is NOT the abbreviation for echocardiogram.
ECG stands for electrocardiogram, and it is identical to an electrokardiogram (EKG). The test where they hook up 3 (or more) wires to your chest and measure electrical signals.
An echocardiogram is ultrasound imaging of the heart. Also known as an "echo".
I have HCM. My ECG/EKG came back abnormal as I had an inverted p-wave. Though it wasn't until I had a full MRI of my chest/ heart was it confirmed I had HCM.
i dunno. it al depends wrote:
I don't necessarily disagree with you, but you are way too hasty to come to your conclusion. We would have to take the lower number of 75% if we are seriously going to screen the population to be safe. The prevalence of HCM is about 2/1000 (1) in general young populations. You'll miss 1 case out of every 2000 people screened.
This would be acceptable, as you'd catch 3 that wouldn't have otherwise been caught (keep in mind the episode of presentation doesn't have to be death, it could be syncope, angina, SOB, etc), but there are going to be a ton of false positives due to the natural septal enlargement of athlete hearts (2) due to athletic conditioning, and they will have to undergo EHCO afterwards. Add to this the multitude of other incidental findings the EKG will pick up and you have on your hands a real debate about the effectiveness of using EKGs to screen for HCM in athletes. In short, when considering the PPV in the context of the low prevalence and highly confounding nature of athletes, the EKG is a very debatable screening tool.
Just saying, you seem very sure and it doesn't appear you've fully thought this through from an epidemiological standpoint. I would bet if you did a long term screening study of EKGs in athletes you would find no real decrease in mortality and a huge increase in medical cost. But, this study is definitely warranted as the question has merit. On a separate note, do we know for sure it was HCM? Could have been a lot of things.
1.
https://circ.ahajournals.org/content/92/4/785.full2.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2960727
Well written, and I suppose it's up for debate.
It would be interesting to compare the rates of HCM between those that have family members with it or other heart conditions and those that do not. For example, my family has no cases of heart disease of any kind for at least the last 3 generations (that I know of). Perhaps it would make sense for my kids to go through the quick and easy screening, whereas another family may want to go through a full echo screening.
Regardless, there are enough young athletes that drop dead that it's worth discussing and promoting awareness.
FjordFighter wrote:
I have HCM. My ECG/EKG came back abnormal as I had an inverted p-wave. Though it wasn't until I had a full MRI of my chest/ heart was it confirmed I had HCM.
inverted p-wave can also occur due to: a "junctional" rhythm (although you will also have a widened QRS complex), sinus node issue but the most likely cause is poor lead placement. An EKG/ECG (same thing btw) will only indicate problems with the electrical system of the heart, not necessarily the size.
Hypertrophy would more likely be noted with much more advanced testing. (echo previously mentioned, but also measures of contractility or ejection fraction)
Agreed. I heard some discussion about this in the english premier league a few years ago after a near death experience of a player. As for the genetic aspect, thats an interesting thought for resource allocation. Perhaps genetic screening will be cheap someday and we can fully transition to Gattaca!
from the pot to the fire wrote:
Many more people die from EKGs and ECGs than they do from HCM.
One of the dumbest things I've ever heard. 10/10
Well Bob, you might want to go back and read what the guy wrote. ECG (echocardiogram), NOT EKG.
Ah, I love it when the snide correcter who doesn't actually know what he's talking about is wrong. Such a good feeling.
I wonder if she drank one of those crazy "energy" drinks. Wouldn't be surprised if that's what killed her.