About CTH
At Capture The Heart, screening for congenital heart diease is the basis of our charity's foundation. In most situations, an echocardigram (heart ultrasound) is ordered by a medical doctor and performed at the hospital only when a patient (student) has exhibited symptoms of Hypertophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM). Through the healthcare system, these tests can cost upwards of $1,000 each and most insurance companies won't reimburse you for it unless the patient has a genetic history of HCM or experienced symptoms.
Click here to learn more about HCM, SCA, and the CTH HeartScreen process.
Our unique ability to bring diagnostic equipment directly on-site gives you the option of budget-friendly and quality proactive heart health imaging. In fact, it's so affordable that there is NO NEED FOR INSURANCE!
Scott Wade at Sarah Bush Lincoln Health, 1999
A Letter From Our Founder
Over the past 2 decades, sudden cardiac related deaths associated with young athletes have become more prevalent through increased news and social media exposure. These tragedies are highly emotional and carry throughout communities and large regions, affecting not just the families involved, but also friends, and schools in neighboring counties. These deaths also present ethical and legal issues for the school districts and their athletic programs. There is significant public scrutiny in these occurrences of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) and deaths because otherwise healthy appearing individuals, including collegiate and professional athletes, hold a perception that they are the healthiest among us, but this is not always the case.
We know now that preventative screening for cardiac abnormalities can help to identify and potentially prevent some cases of SCA, bringing awareness to conditions that can be treated by a cardiologist.
My early career as a staff Sonographer/Echocardiographer, performing echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) athletic screenings at Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center in the mid 1990’s exposed me to the largely undiagnosed diseases in student athletes and the unfortunate realization that only a small percentage of students had access to tests that could potentially save their lives. Having performed over 1,000 of these screenings during those years, my passion to expand this access to as many students and athletes as possible has driven me to create a program that would bring those critical screenings to students all over our local community and the country. Capture The Heart was formed to provide heart health screening of young athletes and potentially prevent the loss of life that can occur from sudden cardiac arrest caused by Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, or HCM. At Capture The Heart, we strive to create a model of caring professionalism, in an on-site mobile service, direct to schools and athletic associations.
As a non-profit organization, we thank our sponsors, who share our desire and recognize the importance of caring for the heart health safety of the young people in the communities we serve.
Scott Wade, Founder