Cardiac Insight

You can’t see HCM from the bleachers.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the most common inherited heart condition, and one of the most common causes of sudden cardiac arrest in young athletes. The hard part for parents: most kids who have it have no symptoms at all. They look healthy. They feel healthy. A physical exam alone can miss up to 90% of young people at risk.

That’s what an ECG is for. It reads the heart’s electrical activity, which is abnormal in more than 90% of HCM cases, and gives a board-certified cardiologist something concrete to review. HCM can’t be prevented, but when it’s found early, families can plan around it.

If your athlete is competing in Florida this year, the Second Chance Act asks first-time FHSAA athletes in grades 9-12 to complete an ECG before they play. Start at flyouthheart.org .

Comment CARDEA and we’ll send you the parent screening resources.

Stories like this are why we do the work. Grateful to the screening champions and school partners bringing heart screening to every student-athlete. Insights that Save Lives.

Some clinicians have questioned whether ECG screening is worth the cost. It is a fair question, and the answer comes down to one number.

When ECGs are read using criteria built for general populations, false positives can run as high as 30%. That means unnecessary referrals, extra testing, and anxious families.

Read using the International Consensus Criteria, that figure drops to roughly 2%.

CARDEA 20/20® is built on those criteria. Results are always reviewed and confirmed by a clinician.

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The map is changing for young athletes.
 
According to our research, Florida’s Second Chance Act made ECG screening part of the sports physical in 2026. Now three more states — South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and New York — have active legislation moving through committee to do the same.
 
This isn’t just policy movement. It’s a higher bar for how we protect young hearts, catching the conditions a stethoscope and questionnaire can miss, before they become tragedies on the field.
 
Swipe through for exactly where each state stands. 👉
 
We track this space closely so schools, providers, payers, and health systems can stay ahead of it.
 
Follow us for ongoing coverage of youth cardiac screening policy.
 
HeartHealth SecondChanceAct CardiacScreening

When the world’s leading voice in sports cardiology talks about screening young athletes, we listen.
 
Dr. Jonathan Drezner has spent his career working to prevent sudden cardiac arrest in young athletes and he chose Cardea 20/20 for his high school screening work.
 
His words: a false positive rate under 2%, “lower than most standard screening procedures in medicine.”
 
That number matters. The biggest objection to ECG screening has always been false positives — unnecessary follow-ups, sidelined athletes, worried families. An athlete-specific interpretation algorithm built into the device is how you solve it.
 
Fewer false alarms. More hearts screened. A higher standard of care for young athletes.
 
Dr. Drezner’s testimonial was provided prior to his appointment as a compensated Medical Advisor to Cardiac Insight.
 

A sports physical checks a lot of things. It often cannot catch a hidden heart condition.

This month, Tampa Bay Parenting put youth heart screening on its cover: the new Florida law, why an ECG catches what a typical physical often misses, and one local family’s story of surviving sudden cardiac arrest.

Here is what every Florida parent should know. The Second Chance Act is now in effect, and first-time high school student-athletes need an ECG heart screening before the season starts. It takes less than 5 minutes. It can detect conditions that show no symptoms at all.

Read the full feature in the June issue (link in bio, or search “Tampa Bay Parenting June 2026”).

Comment CARDEA and we will send you the parent resource, or visit flyouthheart.org to get started.

What happens if the ECG finds something?
This is the question most parents are afraid to ask.
Here’s the answer.

In the vast majority of screenings, results are normal. About 97% of athletes receive a normal result.

If a follow-up is recommended, here is what that typically means: a board-certified cardiologist reviews the result. If additional evaluation is needed, an echocardiogram is usually the next step. In most cases, athletes can continue regular activities while awaiting follow-up.

A flag on an ECG is not a diagnosis. It is information. Finding something early is exactly what the Second Chance Act was designed to do.

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