Screening Saves Lives - A Very Important Issue For All People - Tue, 11 Sep 2007
In light of the recent media coverage of all of the Sudden Deaths (two
kids in Tyrone for example) I thought that I should put an article recieved from Erin's Isle on the website.
In memory of a great friend and
team mate by the name of Francis Leonard who sadly suffered a similar
faith during an AFL4 league game almost 12 months ago against O'Dwyers
in Finglas.
After
about 50 minutes of the game, Francis' collapsed right in front of
myself and everyone playing that day, for seemingly no apparent reason.
It turned out that Francis had suffered a sudden heart stoppage -
basically his heart simply stopped beating - a Sudden Adult Death.
On
Tuesday morning last, before any communication entered the public
domain of the 4 people that suffered a similar faith last week, I
received a letter from Greg Leonard, father of Francis. That's the
background out of the way, and I think the letter speaks for itself.
SCREENING SAVES LIVES
It
is nearly a year since Francis died and during that time I have tried
to explain to as many people I have met what happened then and since.
The
Post Mortem revealed that Francis died according to his death
certificate from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy - which is that his heart
just stopped beating. We asked the ER Consultant in Blanchardstown the
night Francis died a few questions and the answers were that if this
had happened under ideal conditions for example in an ER the
likehood of survival with all the best equipment in the world the
chances of survival would only be 50/50 and that Francis was the
youngest case the Consultant had to deal with while he has been in the
hospital.
We know now that Francis may have had the
Brugada Syndrome. The family have all been tested for this and myself
and one of our boys are showing the "Brugada sign". Brugada was first
discovered in 1992 and this refers to an abnormality on the ECG.
Brugada syndrome is a genetic disorder in which the abnormality of the
hearts electrical system causes life-threatening heart rhythm
disturbances called arrhythmias.
It is common to have a
Brugada sigh without having Brugada syndrome. In these cases a Brugada
sign may be as a result of structural heart electrolyte abnormalities
or the effects of certain prescribed meds or cocaine use.
But
if someone has the Brugada sign and also a history of fainting, a
history of serious arrhythmias or a family history of sudden cardiac
death- it is likely that they have the Brugada.
We have
been screened and looked after by the best in the business they
opened up the new screening unit in Tallaght for us soon after Francis
died and since then we have been investigated thoroughly.
Little
did we realise until now that we had a few sudden deaths in the family.
30 years ago a Leonard cousin of ours died (in Spain) from what we
thought was from drowning and it was only recently that we discovered
that although he had died in a swimming pool he had no water in his
lungs and that he died from a heart attack. Recently we were able to
furnish the screening team with a copy of his Post Mortem.
Here
is part of a report I have recently received which I hope will give you
and idea of the care and attention we receive when we are screened. It
states "about 20% of people who have a sudden unexplained death, as in
Francis's case would have a genetic basis for it and the commonest
genetic condition to cause that is long QT syndrome. Brugada syndrome
is related to long QT syndrome, but has a specific set of changes which
one sees on the ECG many of which are often induced by treatment such
as Ajmaline. Brugada is a genetic condition which is caused by an
alteration of one of a person?s two copies of the specific sodium
channel gene. Everybody has two such sodium channel genes, one from
the mother and one from the father and in most people those two sodium
channel genes would be normal. However if one copy of that gene was
altered then a person would be reported as having heart disturbances.
Therefore for a person who has a Brugade, each of their children would
have a 50/50 chance of inheriting either the normal or the altered
sodium channel gene."
This gene can show up on a simple
ECG and it is recommended that people at risk should have this test
done. Unfortunately ECGs is not as reliable as genetic testing but it
is a start. There have been families where they have long QT or related
conditions and the ECG has been normal but a gene abnormality can still
be present.
At our last visit to a part of the
screening unit this time to a specialist in St. Vincents. Our
appointment was for 5pm and we left the hospital after 8pm. A lot of
this work is done when the normal days work is done and the people
involved are absolutely marvellous. The Brugada name comes from the
Family Brugada who are Spanish doctors and one of the doctors in St.
Vincents was actually Spanish and knew all about them and what they
discovered. He showed us the Brugada ECG and explained the sign as
being like the fin of a dolphin.
I have tried to
explain as much as possible with the intention of promoting screening.
There are treatments available to prevent this type of sudden death and
it is hoped that this will give you some idea of what it is all about.
If you have any questions or want to discuss this in any way, ask away, don't be afraid or shy to say or ask anything you like and we can get
the ball rolling.
Francis Leonard
RIP
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