Screening Children for Silent Cardiac Conditions

Whether to require electrocardiograms (ECGs) before beginning stimulant treatment in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is controversial; the requirement has been favored by the American Heart Association and opposed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (Pediatrics 2008; 122:451). To explore the feasibility of pediatric screening for clinically silent cardiac conditions (e.g., myopathies, congenital cardiac defects, electrical abnormalities, coronary artery abnormalities) that predispose to sudden cardiac arrest, researchers gave standard physical exams, ECGs, and echocardiograms to 400 healthy children aged 5 to 19 years (mean age, 11 years). The researchers also obtained medical histories, including family cardiac his…