Assoc. Prof. Dr. Choo Wai Sun

Sorry, I forgot to mention in the earlier post that the reason for doing the ECHO in the health check up because I want to do regular running and thinking about half marathon. Heard that a man aged 29 years old died during the finishing km of the Standard Chartered Marathon in Singapore 4th Dec 2016: http://www.straitstimes.com/sport/standard-chartered-marathon-singapore-29-year-old-man-dies-after-collapsing-during-half

So, just to check that my heart is ok before putting my heart to the test!

Read from forbes.com "Why do healthy people die running marathons" article on Apr 15 2014 that a rare genetic condition called hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy ie a thickened heart causing the heart to pump very hard during exercise. This leads to sudden cardiac arrest. And an ECHO can detect this thickened heart. So, why do other Doctors never suggest to do an ECHO for people

who do competitive sports?

I cannot agree more, as an echocardiogram exclude HOCM as well as other cardiological conditions which may be detrimental to high impact exercise. The acronym, NHAM ( or any association ) does not indicate a Gazetted Interventional Cardiologist. Non Cardiologist such as Dr Abdul Rashid ( MSH ), Dr Arifin Mohd Ali ( Columbia Asia ) are members of the NHAM.