“I wasn’t going to let it stop my life”
– Doug McWhorter

 

“Doug had had a physical every year for 17 years,” recalls his father Gene, “but this was the first time anyone had done an ECG. It saved his life, his younger brother’s life and my life.” 

 

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a thickening of the heart muscle without any apparent cause, can put anyone afflicted at risk of sudden death.  So it was with Doug McWhorter, his Dad and his brother. 

 

Cardiac testing the key

The McWhorter family’s lives were changed forever when Doug was given a free TOPS physical exam for athletes at his high school.  The TOPS (Team of Physicians for Students) program offered more than the typical exam. 

 

TOPS founder Dr. Paul Steingard knew what legitimate sports physicals should consist of – based on his past position as a team doctor for the Phoenix Suns professional basketball team.  His assertion was to include cardiac testing as a key indicator of cardiovascular health. 

 

What's an echocardiogram? Echocardiograms are sometimes used as a followup to ECG studies. But What is Echocardiography and how does it work? + View Exam Guide

 

By adding an electrocardiogram (ECG) – and, if required, echocardiography – to each student athlete’s exam, Dr. Steingard hoped to identify abnormalities of the heart. “People said we were wasting our time.  They couldn’t understand why we would do this type of testing on young healthy athletes, says Dr. Steingard.  But experience told him he was right.  “Performing physicals that include a thorough cardiovascular evaluation helps us catch things that a standard physical doesn’t even test for – like HCM.”

 

Finding out

The TOPS team uses the ECG to look for anything unusual including hypertension, heart murmurs, mitral valve prolaspe, problems with heart rhythms, Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome and other cardiovascular issues. 

 

Doug McWhorter was supposed to play baseball the afternoon of his exam.  But based on review of his ECG, he was immediately benched.  Further tests revealed the presence of HCM.  It was soon determined Doug’s father Gene and brother were both carriers of the gene that causes HCM.  Soon all three were outfitted with pacemakers and defibrillators.

 

Leading a normal life

As for Doug, he says he hasn’t let HCM stop him from leading a normal life. “When I found out I had heart disease, it didn’t take me long to decide that I wasn’t going to let it stop my life. I was going to strive to turn what could be perceived as a weakness, into a strength. I go to college. I walk a mile to class everyday. And I play recreational sports everyday. It’s nice to know I can do all that and not fall over and possibly die.”

 

Thorough physicals make a difference

Gene McWhorter says hardly a week goes by that he doesn’t hear of a student athlete who has died from HCM. He says the real tragedy is they don’t have to die. “We don’t have control over our own genetics. But we do have the technology available to detect and diagnose HCM – we don’t have to be at risk.”

 

- August 2007

 

+ More Patient Stories

 

 

 

 

 

The content on this site is intended to be used for educational purposes only ...