BMJ 2008;336:980-981 (3 May).
News; By: Janice Hopkins Tanne
Children with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) should have an electrocardiogram taken and a cardiac evaluation BEFORE they begin to take drugs for the disorder, the American Heart Association has said in a scientific statement.
- As many as 2% of apparently healthy school age children have potentially serious undiagnosed heart conditions that can be identified by electrocardiography but that may not be detected on routine physical examination, said Victoria Vetter, head of the committee that wrote the statement and professor of paediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia.
- An electrocardiogram is needed to detect conditions such as:
- hypertrophic cardiomyopathy,
- long QT syndrome,
- and Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, the statement says.
