Life and death on the gridiron

This year across America, a handful of apparently healthy athletes will die on the playing field. Though efforts are made to detect abnormalities that might predict the sudden deaths resulting from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and undiagnosed asthma, there has been no cost-effective way of screening entire teams before the start of each season. But last August, Yale surgeon James “Butch” Rosser, M.D., launched his “Operation Beating Heart” telemedicine program during football practice at Savannah State University in Georgia. Rosser’s exam uses a five-pound ultrasound device and other portable gear to transmit data to Yale physicians. Rosser plans to expand the program to other schools this year.