Doctor Oz did an episode on the number one sudden killer in children- Sudden Cardiac Arrest, which causes the sudden death in children. Cardiac Arrest in children is almost always fatal. What causes these kids to die? What are the warning signs of Sudden Cardiac Arrest? If you have children, you must read this and send it to all of your friends and family members with kids! 
Dr Oz was joined by Dr G, Medical Examiner on Discovery Health, to teach us about sudden cardiac arrest – the number one sudden killer in children. One moment your kid can be full of energy and running around and then suddenly his or her heart can stop beating and stop pumping blood to the brain or other body parts. There are often no symptoms or warnings right before the Sudden Cardiac Arrest attacks. Sudden Cardiac Arrest is not the same thing as a heart attack. There are over a dozen heart disorders that can cause Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Of the 7000 children that go into Sudden Cardiac Arrest each year, only 5% survive. Death is preventable though if you know that your child has a heart condition. These are not kids that look sick or chronically ill.
Sudden Cardiac Arrest Causes
1. Enlarged Heart
A normal heart for a child is 300 grams, but their heart can get 2 to 4 times as large and as the muscle get enlarged, it can cause your child to die. Overtime, if it is a congenital problem, the muscle wall in the heart will thicken and want more blood supply, which makes the thickened muscle very angry and irritable if it does not get what it wants.
2. Arrhythmic Heart or Electrical Heart Problem
Arrhythmia, or an inconsistent heart beat, is an electrical heart problem that is often genetic, but an autopsy can’t find this problem.
Doctor Oz told the story of a young girl named Sarah who was 12 and turning 13 in a few weeks. Sarah was on her summer vacation and was taking a junior lifeguard course, when she asked her mom if she could play at the waterpark afterwards. Shortly after that, Sarah’s friend called and said that Sarah had collapsed. Sarah ended up dying of Sudden Cardiac Arrest, and her mother is just left with a locket of Sarah’s hair and her old swimsuit.
Sarah had some signs of Sudden Cardiac Arrest, because she told her mom that her chest hurt and she felt a tightness in her chest when she played sports that involved running. Her mother took her to the doctor, but he listened to her heart and just dismissed it.
Dr. Asif Ali did a test on a group of 6th graders and found that by doing some simple tests such as an echocardiogram, he was able to find 7 children with heart conditions, and 2 kids who needed medical intervention.
Sudden Cardiac Arrest Signs & Symptoms
1. Family History
You must be proactive and know the genetic risk factors and family history.
2. Fatigue
3. Heart Palpitations
4. Tightness of the Chest
How to Prevent Death by Sudden Cardiac Arrest
1. Know Symptoms Above
2. AED (Automated External Defibrillator)
Make sure you have an automated external defibrillator at your child’s school. Sarah’s parents got the government in Texas to pass a law making all schools have automated external defibrillators and recently 2 children in Texas were saved with the AED’s.
Also, if anyone in your family under 60 dies, you must have an autopsy done so that you can determine the cause of death, because it can dramatically help future generations and your kids to know their risks.
Rita Helgeson says
Thank you for doing a segment on Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) in children. Laura and Luther Friend are wonderful people. I wish that you had included more about this horrible devestating killer SCA that is silenting killing our healthy children. Our wonderful son, Andrew, was the epitome of health when he died from SCA without any warning at only 18 years old just days before graduating from high school on May 25, 2005. Andrew was the healthiest in his high school and he is dead. I was saddened that you did not run the pictures of our children that died from SCA and mention Parent Heart Watch that Laura Friend and 3 other mothers started to help bring awareness to SCA in children and to help save other peoples chidlren from the terrible deaths that our children have suffered. When a young healthy person dies it is devastating to the families and friends. We miss our Andrew with every breath and every heartbeat every minute of the day. The public must know about all of us families that are out her spread all across the US with heavy hearts and trying to make a difference by having laws changed to save others from dying from SCA. We started the R. Andrew Helgeson Memorial Foundation and have had two laws passed in MD. Andrew’s Law was passed in 2006 that mandated that all MD High Schools have AEDS and also at all school sport activities. In 2008 Andrew inspired a law that gives immunity to the operator of an AED. This is all very hard for us families but we do it for our children. You are a father of 4 children, cardiologist and a kind man so we hope that you would fill your audience with parents that have lost their children from SCA and cover more about the other reasons for SCA and the importance of cardiac screening children with an EKG and an echocardiogram. We do not know what killed our son exactly and may never know which just makes it worse. If they can cardiac screen children in Italy and in Japan we can do it here. 7,000 to 15,000 kids die like this every year. Many medical examiners just put natural on the death certificate or the SCA is recorded incorrectly as car accident, drowning, seizure and there is no mandatory registry in the US which we would strongly like to see made mandatory. Our son is in no registry. Andrew was a wonderful person and he had a full academic scholarship and would have graduated last May with a masters in accounting and now would be finishing up his first yera in law school. He was so good, kind and caring and deservd so much better. We as parents should have been made aware to have Andrew cardiac screened. It is sad to think that we may have saved him. It is sad to think our vet insisted we have our dog checked for his qt wave a month before Andrew died. It is horrible that when the EMTs came to our home they did not bring an AED. We send billions of dollars abroud to foreign aid every year and yet our children are dying in the US and insurance companies dont want to cover the costs to have chldren cardiac screened. SCA is more common that anyone wants to realize, We will be without our son for the rest of our lives and it is painful to think that he was denied a healthy long life. He and all lhe other children victims of SCA deserve to be recognized, remembered and deserved happy lpong lives. Each were special and would have enriched this world and everyone they touched. You as a cardiologist and father should help us with awareness and lead the way to save others from SCA. Most medical examiners do not ask the families to be screened. When EMTs do not know to bring an AED or that children die from SCA and not drugs as it is automatically assumed by so many it is horrible. Please help us and please put Parent Heart Watch on your sight so other parents will be able to reach other a group that understands and cares. the link is http://www.parentheartwatch.org
We would love to have you run another longer segment about the electrical problems that cause SCA and the importance of learning how to use an AED. Every public facility should be heart safe and have AEDs on the wall. You cannot wait for EMTs to come since they dont come fast enough. They went to the wrong house before they came to our home and our daughter had to run and get them. It is a sad thing that we were not told about SCA and had a choice to screen our child before SCA killed our Andrew. It is astonishing that health professionals do not know that children die of SCA. We now stand alone at Andrew’s grave. Why are our children dying and nothing much is being said or done about it. Everyday we get notices that another child died and the families are shocked and mystified. Well, let us all learn and beware and screen our children. We need money for research and we must protect our children. Thank your for your kind consideration and help to save others chidlren from SCA. It would be great if your friend and colleague the enforcer Dr Michael Roisen would also help to broaden the awareness of SCA in children. People listen to you all. Please let us hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
Rita and Richard Helgeson
Andrew’s parents
http://www.andrewhelgeson.org
[email protected]
Catherine says
i think this is a awesome site…it helped me out alot on this subject. i also have a school project on medical issues and i decided to study up on cardiac arrest…my project will be displayed at the tennessee state fair..it helps and i always cry when i hear about children dying and to know that is the #1 sudden killer in children i think this should be prevented and i also think that scientists should be researching ways to see if this disease could progress and people can see it before their kids end up dying..and see if there are ways to cure it while it progressing..those are my thought s thanks for reading!!!!!!
Anita says
I wish every state had an AED law. My son has had several open heart surgeries. I had taken him to his doc several times complaining that he had chest pain, heart palpataions and dizzyness. His heart doctor always told me he was fine . My son collasped and again another trip to cardiologist and once again told he was fine to bring him back in 1 year for check-up. Only 10 hrs after that appt with doctor my son collasped again in the lobby of a High School gym. He turned blue and the school nurse thought he was going to die. My son 13 at the time had an angel watching over him that night. Finally, the doctors did a EP study and found out his heart rate was going over 300 bpm. He now has a ICD and it has saved his life on several occations. He once had an ICD storm and it shocked him 8 times in 19 mins. We found out later his heart rate was 313. I am very fortunate to have my son since he only had about a 5% chance of surviving . He has Ventricular Tachycardia . He has this from scar tissue from all of his heart surgeries. If my son had not had a angel watchn over him the 2 times he passed out I would not have him today. Our school still does not have AED’s and they don’t plan on gettn them. He also was shocked with his ICD while on school property. I feel it should be a law passed in all schools. My son is now 17 years old. He had a successful ablation done at the Mayo Clinic and hasn’t had any episodes in almost 3 years. He is doing great and is enjoy life once again…Anita