The first statewide symposium of nationally known experts in adult and pediatric cardiology, emergency medicine and sports medicine and sports cardiology will address the causes of and potential solutions for sudden cardiac death/cardiac arrest (SCD/CA) in athletes is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 20, at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

Head coaches, athletic trainers and key administrators from major colleges and universities, as well as directors of secondary, junior high and high schools from across Mississippi, will meet alongside first responders, emergency and primary and specialty care physicians, nurses, and over fifteen grass-roots advocacy organizations to learn about the medical causes of SCD/CA and public policy measures designed to curtail the tragedy.

The Mississippi Summit on Sudden Death in Athletes, “Hearts Too Young to Die,” will include presentations, panel discussions and a “hands-on” display area demonstrating equipment used to identify and prevent sudden cardiac death during morning and afternoon sessions scheduled from 8 a.m.-5:15 p.m. in the UMC Conference Center at the Jackson Medical Mall Thad Cochran Center.

Dr. John P. Payne, associate professor of medicine and director of cardiac electrophysiology at UMC and faculty course coordinator for the symposium, said the summit focuses on one of the most important danger to health and safety for all citizens Mississippi by drawing attention to the fact that SCD/CA can happen in the physically gifted youth of the state.

“We recognize the unique position of the sports community as an effective and positive force in mobilizing social change,” Payne said. “We are convinced that cooperation between athletic and health care organizations will lead the way to broader public health reforms and implement true changes for all Americans.

“Direct education will save the lives of our gifted youth.”

According to Payne, statistics from the Centers of Disease Control show that Mississippi leads the nation in the incidence of SCD/CA in persons under 40 years of age.

“In general, a lack of education has created the need to raise awareness of the causes, treatment and prevention of SCD/CA in competitive sports,” he said. “This symposium will serve as a critical catalyst to highlight the issues of sudden cardiac death prevention and raise awareness of the need to mobilize community-based action for emergency care response of SCD/CA and to assist in setting new standards of prevention and recovery.”

Leon Seals, Methodist Rehabilitation Center police captain and former football standout at Jackson State University who played in two Super Bowls with the Buffalo Bills, will deliver the keynote address, “Playing Despite Palpitations,” at 8:15 a.m. Robert Schriever, a Boston area high school football referee and himself a cardiac arrest survivor because of the prompt use of an automatic external defibrillator (AED) by a team athletic trainer, will present “Refereeing Despite Arresting,” at 8:45 a.m.

The symposium speakers’ panel is a veritable “Who’s Who” of renowned cardiac specialists across America. Those scheduled to speak during the morning session are Dr. N.A. Mark Estes, professor of medicine at the Tufts University School of Medicine and director of the Cardiac Arrhythmia Service at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston, Mass., who will present “Epidemiology of Sudden Cardiac Death/Cardiac Arrest in Children, Young Adults and Athletes;” Dr. F. Roosevelt Gilliam III, clinical professor of medicine, electrophysiologist and section chief at the Duke Heart Center, Duke University Health System in Durham, N.C., who will present “The Problem of Syncope and Palpitations in Athletes;” Dr. Barry J. Maron, director of the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center, Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation in Minneapolis, Minn., who will present “Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy;” Dr. Paul C. Gillette, medical director of cardiology, pediatric arrhythmia at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas, who will present “Arrhythmias in Children and Young Adults;” Dr. Jeffrey A. Towbin, professor in the Departments of Pediatric (Cardiology), Cardiovascular Sciences and Molecular and Human Genetics, Chief Pediatric Cardiology at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, who will present “Genetic Basis of SCD/CA in the Young;” and Dr. Richard Allen Williams, clinical professor of medicine at the UCLA School of Medicine in Los Angeles, Calif., who will present “Ethnic and Gender Differences of Susceptibility and Outcome.”

Scheduled to speak during the afternoon session are Maron, who will present “Pre-sport Screening Programs: Objectives and Implementations;” Estes, who will present “Prevention Programs: Ways to Improve Cardiac Safety of Physical Training Regimens;” Dr. Henry R. Halperin, professor of cardiology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md., who will present “Acute Intervention: State-of-the-art CPR;” Dr. Vincent N. Mosesso, Jr., associate professor of emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and medical director at the National Center for Early Defibrillation and UPMC Prehospital Care in Pittsburgh, Pa., who will present “Role of Mass Public Education: Use and Results of AEDs;” Dr. Jonathan Drezner, assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle, who will present “AEDs in Athletic Medicine: Is Cardiac Arrest Still Survivable;” Ronald W. Courson, director of sports medicine at the University of Georgia in Athens, who will present “Athletic Emergency Action Planning;” and Williams, who will present “Public Health Policy, Policy Making and Policy Makers.”

Sandwiched between the presentations will be panel discussions moderated by Dr. Charles M. Gaymes, UMC associate professor of pediatrics, and Dr. Malcolm P. Taylor, UMC clinical assistant professor of medicine.   There will be four panel discussion segments during the program which will have representatives from key sports medicine professional societies, including the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine, as well as preeminent athletic organizations, including the National Collegiate Athletic Association, National Athletic Trainers Association, and the National Federation of State High School Association in addition to the National Insititutes of Health.

The conference is jointly sponsored by the UMC Division of Continuing Health Professional Education; the UMC Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Diseases; the UMC Department of Orthopedics; and the National Association of Black Cardiologists.

For more information about the symposium, call Barbara Smith at 601-815-5142; to schedule interviews with any of the participants or for assistance in covering the event, call the UMC Division of Public Affairs at 601-984-1100.