Fort Bend ISD partners with THI to provide free MRI screening 
to middle school students

This prevention-oriented research study can help identify
children who may have undetected heart conditions that
can lead to sudden cardiac death.

June 30, 2011 - Too often, we hear about a young student/athlete who collapses in the middle of a game or at a team practice as the result of an undetected heart condition that leads to Sudden Cardiac Death. The Center for Coronary Artery Anomalies at the Texas Heart Institute is doing breakthrough research on the prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death in young people and has partnered with Fort Bend ISD to provide a FREE MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) screening study to all middle-school aged students, whether they engage in organized sports or not.

Screening studies are being provided throughout the summer, until September 9, 2011. Participation in the study is simple. It involves completing a brief medical history questionnaire, an electrocardiogram, and simplified cardiac MRI. This research study is based on good science, has been approved by an independent institutional review board (ethics committee), and will follow all federal and state rules for such studies.

Parents and students will have access to all the information and documents they will need to arrive at informed decisions regarding participation in these studies.

Screening will be at a Texas Heart Institute facility located in the Texas Medical Center in Houston. Also,

• Participation in this study is entirely voluntary.
• The tests involve very little risk and are completed in less than one hour.
• The tests involve no injections or medications.
• Testing will be done only with written consent of parents/guardians and all test results remain confidential.
• A letter with the test results will be sent to parents/guardians by mail.
• There is absolutely no cost to students or their parents for these tests.

We invite interested parents/guardians to contact The Center for Coronary Artery Anomalies at the Texas Heart Institute at 713-218-2112 or by email at CCAA@Texasheart.org for more information or to schedule their child for a screening study. Additional information is also available at www.texasheart.org/research/ccaa.

View this news release as it appeared on the Fort Bend ISD website.

For media inquiries please contact:
Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital
Frank Michel  ♦  832-355-9510  ♦  Email: fmichel@heart.thi.tmc.edu

For THI and St. Luke's media profiles, see Public Affairs.