Player's death blamed on heart disease; doctor to propose tests for student athletes

<br>TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ A heart disease caused the death of a 15-year-old high school basketball player who collapsed during a game last month, the state Medical Examiner's office said Wednesday. <br><br>Aaron

Wednesday, March 27th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ A heart disease caused the death of a 15-year-old high school basketball player who collapsed during a game last month, the state Medical Examiner's office said Wednesday.

Aaron Halford's heart attack was brought on by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy _ a thickening of the heart muscle, said Scott Evans, a spokesman for the medical examiner.

The unusual disease, which can be an inherited condition, enlarges the heart, impairs coronary blood flow and can lead to sudden death.

``It's one of those things that we're always looking for and trying to find,'' said Dr. Paul Gillette, medical director of pediatric cardiology at Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas.

He said the disease is hard to spot because it gives few physical warnings. It's also more common in patients in their late-20s and 30s than in teen-agers.

Halford, a starting guard for Cascia Hall Preparatory School, died Feb. 12. The school coach said Halford glanced at the bench just before collapsing and that the youth had stopped breathing by the time teammates had gotten to his side.

Gillette is scheduled to speak at a meeting of physicians in Tulsa next month where he said he plans to propose EKG monitoring of heart rhythm for student athletes. He said about 80 percent of the people with the disease that killed Halford will have an abnormal EKG.

He said testing could also detect some cases of a condition called anomalous coronary artery circulation that killed another Tulsa-area school basketball player. Shatiekia Johnson, 14, collapsed and died in November.

Gillette said that such deaths aren't common, but that their prevention deserves a special strategy.

``It's not real often,'' Gillette said, ``but it's just so horrible when it happens that it's worth putting some effort into.''

The medical examiner's office found no other injuries or diseases present in Halford. Toxicology tests were also negative.