Cardiac Developments

Dr. Mark Haigney of Walter Reed and Dr. Adam Saperstein of the USNA, along with their team, implemented a practical screening program to reduce sudden cardiac death (SCD), the leading cause of non-traumatic death in military recruits. Both Dr. Haigney and Dr. Saperstein assured the Carrillo family that Duke will not have died in vain, and if left to them, no other midshipman would die when a simple EKG could detect life threatening arrhythmias and aberrancies. Because of their tireless work, in July, 2020, EKG screening was implemented for all plebes entering the USNA. In that class alone, 10 plebes were referred to Walter Reed for evaluation. Eventually, all 4,095 midshipmen had an EKG, and out of those, 87 were referred for further evaluation. At least two lives were undeniably saved as a result of this screening. Their work made it into the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, and in December, 2021, President Biden signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which includes cardiac screenings for the United States Naval Academy, West Point, and the Air Force Academy. They hope to use this data to expand EKG screenings to military entrance processing stations in the future. Dr. Saperstein said that Duke inspires the whole team in the work that they do.