Olympic Medical Research Using GE Healthcare Technology Finds Enlarged Hearts Can Be Good Hearts
Athlete Scans Identify Risk of Musculoskeletal Injury Before It
Happens
BEIJING--(Business Wire)--
GE Healthcare along with Olympic medical leaders today announced
at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, initial findings that recognize
risks for sudden cardiac death and musculoskeletal injuries before
they happen. The findings come from two Olympic athlete research
studies conducted since the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games aimed at
demonstrating that health monitoring and early intervention may lead
to injury prevention and enhanced health.
Athlete Heart Research Provides Insight into Sudden Cardiac Death
Dr. Malissa Wood, cardiologist, Massachusetts General Hospital in
Boston announced that their work with Olympic athletes have allowed
them to identify healthy patterns of heart enlargement that can
differentiate it from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Previously, it was
believed that heart size is indicative of risk of Sudden Cardiac Death
(SCD); however, Dr Wood's research with the USA Weightlifting and U.S.
Men's Rowing teams has shown that it is the health of the systolic or
blood-pumping action - not the heart size - that is the distinguishing
factor of a healthy heart. This study is being conducted using GE
Healthcare's Vivid i cardiac compact ultrasound technology.
"As a result of these findings, we are in the process of
developing a cardiac fitness index to be released later this year that
will help trainers and coaches understand how cardiac conditions
impact performance of high-endurance athletes," said Dr. Wood. "Our
work also will provide healthcare professionals with insight into new,
more effective ways of assessing and treating heart disease for the
general public."
Based on Dr. Wood's findings, Dr. Patrick Schamasch, medical
director of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has recommended
routine cardiac monitoring of Olympic athletes. "I fully support the
action to have preparticipation cardiovascular screening mandatory for
elite athletes. This will evaluate athletes before participating in
sports for the purpose of identifying (or raising suspicion of)
abnormalities that could provoke disease progression or sudden cardiac
death. Ensuring the well-being of all athletes is the IOC's priority,
and we feel that the identification of the relevant diseases will
allow clinicians to make decisions earlier on, of whether a player can
stay in the game or not, but above all tailor their training programs
to best meet their needs and ensure athlete safety." Dr. Schamasch,
Medical and Scientific Director, International Olympic Committee
(IOC).
Asymptomatic Injury Detection Key for Increasing Athlete
Performance
Since 2005, Dr. Marnix van Holsbeeck from the Henry Ford Health
System in Detroit has been studying how ultrasound scans can identify
weaknesses in an athlete's musculoskeletal structure before an injury
occurs. Initial results from this research has demonstrated an
incidence of asymptomatic injuries in several of the athletes; in a
higher than expected incidence in female athletes. This study is being
conducted with athletes from the USA Weightlifting, USA Boxing, and
the U.S. Women's National Soccer teams using GE Healthcare's LOGIQ i
ultrasound technology.
"We were surprised to find that athletes who trained at the
highest level with no sign of pain showed early signs of potential
injury during routine scanning," said van Holsbeeck. "We've found that
ultrasound technology can highlight problems with structure and with
mobility of tissues that no other examination technique can show."
"We train so hard as athletes that little injuries can lead to
further injuries," said Heather Mitts, defender on the U.S. Women's
National Soccer Team, who participated in Dr. van Holsbeeck's research
study. "Through these routine scans, we can know if we should sit out,
but if we know that we can keep going, we can train at the highest
level."
In line with GE Healthcare's 'Early Health' vision and its
commitment to sports medicine, these imaging technologies can assist
clinicians to better understand the human body of elite athletes and
the general public.
"If we can move toward predictive healthcare and early detection
of disease, we have the potential to dramatically reduce the risks of
late-stage disease treatment," said Omar Ishrak, President & CEO
Clinical Systems, GE Healthcare. "Shifting resources to develop
technologies that allow healthcare providers to diagnose disease at
the earliest possible stage, when there can be many treatment options,
is better medicine," added Ishrak.
About GE and the Olympic Games
GE is the exclusive provider of a wide range of innovative
products and services that are integral to staging a successful
Olympic Games. GE works closely with host countries, cities and
organizing committees to provide infrastructure solutions for Olympic
venues including power, lighting, water treatment, transportation and
security, and to supply hospitals with ultrasound and MRI equipment to
help doctors treat athletes. In addition, NBC Universal, a division of
GE, is the exclusive U.S. media partner of the Olympic Games, with its
partnership also extending through 2012. For more information, visit
www.ge.com/olympicgames.
About GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and
services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our expertise in
medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics and
patient monitoring systems is helping clinicians around the world
re-imagine new ways to predict, diagnose, inform, treat and monitor
disease, so patients can live their lives to the fullest.
GE Healthcare's broad range of products and services enables
healthcare providers to better diagnose and treat cancer, heart
disease, neurological diseases and other conditions earlier. Our
vision for the future is to enable a new "early health" model of care
focused on earlier diagnosis, pre-symptomatic disease detection and
disease prevention. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare
is a $17 billion unit of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE).
Worldwide, GE Healthcare employs more than 46,000 people committed to
serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100
countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website
at www.gehealthcare.com.
GE Healthcare
Pilar Anton Serrano, +33 6.65.87.47.51
Pilar.antonserrano@ge.com
or
Edelman Sports
Lorraine DelliCarpini, +86 139 119 70915 (Beijing)
lorraine.dellicarpini@edelman.com
Copyright Business Wire 2008
