Whether you’re a sports fan or not, you’ve probably heard about Danish footballer Christian Eriksen’s cardiac arrest during the Euro 2020 match. Eriksen’s incident is a prominent example of a professional athlete suffering a sudden cardiac arrest, highlighting the risks faced by many athletes. As a result, more athletes now participate in screening programmes to reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death.
We spoke to Dr Richard Lawrance, Consultant Cardiologist at the Rugby Football League (RFL) to find out how their partnership with ECG On-Demand is helping their cardiac screening programme.
Richard is a consultant cardiologist specialising in cardiac imaging and sports medicine. He is currently involved in cardiac screening for the RFL and other sports, including cycling. He started at the RFL in 2002 at junior level and worked his way up to chief medical officer for Wales.
The RFL cardiac screening programme really gained momentum after the untimely death of Welsh international rugby league player Danny Jones in 2015. Jones went into cardiac arrest during a League 1 match and sadly passed away in hospital soon after. It was later found that he had an inherited cardiomyopathy.
His wife, Lizzie Jones, worked alongside Richard and the RFL to establish a cardiac screening programme, as well as raising money for cardiac defibrillators. The charity also contributes to the ongoing funding of the screening programme.
As a result of their combined hard work, around two thirds of professional clubs are now part of the cardiac screening programme and hopefully this figure will rise as clubs at other levels are encouraged to join.
Richard heard about ECG On-Demand through word of mouth from cardiologist colleagues. He was drawn to our direct to patient model, as the RFL doesn’t have a central hub due to the nature of clubs being dotted around the country. The ease of sending the Holter monitor directly to players helps to spread the screening programme far and wide across the UK. Richard has found that ECG On-Demand provides a fantastic service for a competitive price that allows extra funds to go towards other aspects of the screening programme, such as funding community defibrillators.
Ambulatory monitoring forms part of a wider plan to screen the RFL players. If a player has an abnormal ECG, they are then referred for a Holter, an echocardiogram and a cardiac MRI where possible.
The service with ECG On-Demand mainly helps to reassure players and their families that they are fit to carry on with their rugby career, but also allows for risk stratification to inform a further management plan.
Richard involves the players in every step of the Holter experience to include them in their care. The player’s Holter can be requested through the ECG On-Demand portal during a consultation. Richard ensures the patients fully understand the process and are fully informed on what’s going to happen. The players are very happy with the entire process from receiving their direct to patient kit, to wearing the monitors. Since the cardiac screening programme originally began, Richard has picked up a variety of inherited cardiac conditions.
We asked Richard where he sees the cardiac screening programme in 5 years. He is keen to ensure there is an ongoing cardiac screening programme to keep players safe and also carry on Danny Jones’ legacy. Even picking up one potential sign of an inherited cardiac condition could save a life or drastically alter the trajectory of a player’s ongoing career in rugby.
The cardiac screening programme has the potential to pave the way for broader screening services for conditions like musculoskeletal issues and concussions.This is only the beginning.
Richard concludes that he has seen a vast change in sports screening over the last 20 years of his involvement with RFL and wants to continue being part of the progress.
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