Free Heart Scans Available to Novi Students in April

The Novi Athletic Department and Beaumont Hospitals are teaming up to offer free heart scans to high school students on April 13. The heart scans will be held at Novi High School in the Performance Gym from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

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

You can register online or by calling 1-800-328-8542. Registration is limited to the first 300 to apply.

The Healthy Heart Check student heart screening program was created by Beaumont Health System in May 2007. Since then, Beaumont has screened 8,965 Michigan high school students. Of those students, 54 were told to stop sports and follow up with a cardiologist due to heart abnormalities and four were diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the single most common cause of death among U.S. athletes, according to a press release from Beaumont. Nearly 4,000 of these deaths are among young people, and one in 200,000 high school athletes will die suddenly, most without any prior symptoms. In addition, male athletes are 10 times more likely to die suddenly as a result of HCM.

The Healthy Heart Check program is supported by Max and Debra Ernst through the Ernst Cardiovascular Center at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak; the Fraternal Order of Eagles; Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals; the Charlie Sanders Foundation; and the fundraising efforts of 97.1 FM The Ticket.

Students who are unable to attend the free session can schedule a heart scan at Beaumont Royal Oak's Ernst Cardiovascular Center for a cost of $25.