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SMART HEART SCANS for athletes, is a program instituted by BESTT for U.S. Inc., a non-profit company started by Tom Vardase. Tom, a producer of Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Prep Sports Plus television program, has been witness to more than a few teen athlete deaths in his career. In response to the growing concern he had for the increasing number of students who were falling victim to Sudden Cardiac Death from Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM), also known as the enlarged heart, he decided he could take action to help prevent further tragedies.
SMART HEART SCANS for athletes brings a mobile ultrasound unit to a campus for the day to conduct the simple 8-minute test known as an echocardiogram, which can detect HCM. This test, when conducted in a private facility can cost as much as $1,000 or more and is usually not covered by insurance due to the fact that these are thought to be healthy teen athletes.
Through BESTT for U.S., Inc., the SMART HEART SCANS for athletes test costs just $65 due to the volume of participants and the fact that the test is looking specifically for HCM, as opposed to the broad battery of tests that would be conducted on older patients in a hospital setting. The test is voluntary on the part of the students and their parents. |
