PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) — Thirty-three-year-old Ben Erikson considered himself active and healthy until three years ago when he went for a routine checkup. “That’s when they found an abnormal rhythm on my EKG,” Erikson said.
He was later diagnosed with a heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), which is caused by abnormally thick muscles. If left untreated, it can be life-threatening. “To have it just pop up randomly in my very active and very healthy husband and potentially be a threat to my family and future was devastating,” Danae Erikson said.
This condition can be silent but deadly, especially for athletes. “Seventy-eight percent of athletes who died suddenly because of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy had absolutely no symptoms prior to the cardiac event they had,” said Dr. Said Alsidawi with the Mayo Clinic. Dr. Alsidawi said the biggest roadblock is that HCM is usually not detected in routine physicals or EKGs.
That is why Mayo Clinic is working with a new AI system to detect serious heart conditions in patients. “Right now every time we do an EKG at Mayo Clinic, we have access to what we call the AI dashboard. I can have our AI system look at that EKG and flag certain diagnoses for me,” Alsidawi explained.
With this technology, Alsidawi said doctors are able to pinpoint more accurately when there may be a problem. “We found that actually in kids or younger individuals for this to be extremely effective and accurate in making an accurate diagnosis before I can even see it myself,” he said.
While this technology is not used for routine checkups, doctors and those like Ben encourage anyone active to get tested. Patients can also get a more in-depth analysis through an echocardiogram. “Just make sure you’re staying proactive. Don’t be afraid to go get checked,” Erickson said.
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