Frequently Asked Questions

A heart scan is effectively another term for a cardiac ultrasound that is useful for identifying cardiac abnormalities such as problems with the valves of the heart or a hole in the heart. The heart scan will also show heart size and therefore is very useful at identifying cardiomyopathy. So we normally use heart scans in

There’s about a 4% chance that something will be found on the ECG. If we do identify an abnormality then we would recommend further investigations in the form of a cardiac ultrasound – which is what we perform most commonly – and sometimes patients are also required to have a 24 hour ECG and an exercise

A normal ECG usually excludes major problems. However, if someone is suffering from intermittent palpitations, it suggests that there’s an intermittent heart rhythm disorder that may not be picked up on an ECG when the patient feels perfectly well. In these situations, we would recommend a 24 hour ECG recording whereby an ECG electrode is attached

The ECG is done primarily to look for disorders of the electricity of the heart. However, the ECG can also provide important information regarding the size of the heart. So if the ECG shows that the left chamber or the right chamber is enlarged then the best way to confirm or refute this is to perform

It is common practice for those individuals who have been screened under the CRY screening programme to be called back for a repeat screen. This is usually the case when we screen someone who's 14 or 15, who is still prepubertal. If we bear in mind that people reach puberty at different ages and the puberty

Assuming that the ECG has been read by a cardiac expert, most people who have an ECG will not require any further investigations. In some instances, the ECG may show up suspicion of a heart muscle disorder in the form of very large, what we call QRS complexes, which are these spiky bits on the ECG.

If a condition is identified at the CRY screening programme, the individual will be referred to a cardiologist that has experience in managing conditions that cause sudden death in the young or managing individuals who play a lot of sport. The aim would be to treat the symptoms if there are symptoms; to identify individuals who

The question about whether an individual can continue to play sport after a screening depends on what we identify. If a diagnosis of cardiomyopathy or an ion channel disorder is made then, based on the European Society of Sport Cardiology and the American Bethesda Guidelines, we would recommend that that individual does not perform any type

The impact of cardiac disease on insurance or mortgage is entirely dependent on the type of cardiac abnormalities. The identification of a cardiomyopathy or an ion channel disorder is serious because these conditions can shorten life span and will almost certainly have an important impact on insurance premiums. Most insurance companies would not be keen to