Heart Diseases: Screening
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a programme of routine ECG heart screening in schools and universities.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) last reviewed screening for sudden cardiac death (SCD) in people under the age of 39 years old in 2019, and concluded that screening should not be offered. Further information on this review is available at the following link:
https://view-health-screening-recommendations.service.gov.uk/sudden-cardiac-death/
Research showed that the current tests are not accurate enough to use in young people without symptoms, and that treatments and interventions were not based on good scientific evidence to prevent SCD.
To stop SCDs in young people, the current consensus is to focus on rapid identification and care of people who are likely to be at risk of SCD due to a family link or because they have had symptoms, and to train people to carry out cardiopulmonary resuscitation and to use defibrillators.
NHS England has published guidance for inherited cardiac conditions which requires services to investigate patients with previously undiagnosed cardiac disease, suggestive symptoms, or from families with sudden unexplained deaths. Where a genetic variation is identified, cascade testing is offered to relatives based on risk.
We are aware that the UK NSC has received a submission via its annual call process to consider SCD screening in young people aged 14 to 35 years old who engage in sport. The UK NSC is currently reviewing all annual call proposals. More information on the annual call process can be found here:
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