CRY Charity Information

Ciaran’s family asked that rather than flowers, donations be made to the CRY Unit, Tallaght Hospital. The Unit will be providing a talk for club players, managers, parents and others at the Louis Fitzgerald next Tuesday, January 31st – see notice on website. Here is information about the unit.

CRY is a charity that was founded in 2002 to:

Raise awareness of cardiac risk in the young through media campaigns and public information meetings.
Provide counselling and support to families affected.
To support the Centre for Cardiovascular Risk in Younger Persons (CRYP), where families and individuals can be evaluated in a timely and systematic fashion without financial cost. C.R.Y. is a partner in the CRYP Centre which is located in the Adelaide and Meath Hospital (AMNCH) at Tallaght. The other partners are St. James’s Hospital, Dublin 8 and St. Vincent’s University Hospital, Elm Park, Dublin 4.

CRY promotes heart screening by its support for the development of a National Screening and counselling Service. It is a self-supporting registered charity. It does not receive any Government funding and is consequently dependent on fund-raising activities and private donations.
The Centre for Cardiovascular Risk in Younger Persons (CRYP), provides evaluation and treatment for at risk individuals and families. This Centre opened in November 2008 and currently operates from AMNCH Tallaght, with a clinic in St James’ Hospital. There are plans to develop a clinic in St Vincent’s University Hospital also. The CRYP centre depends primarily on financial donations predominantly from C.R.Y. for it’s operations and also by individual benefactors; the Patches Trust, the Adelaide Society and the AMNCH Volunteers.

The Centre for Cardiovascular Risk in Younger Persons (CRYP), a dedicated new treatment centre, was developed by Dr David Mulcahy and Professor Ian Graham and their colleagues in the Adelaide and Meath Hospital, Tallaght (AMNCH) and St James’s Hospital to provide a medical facility for evaluating at-risk individuals and families, particularly young people.

Treatment and prevention of complications is possible in most people once cardiovascular disease is identified. Early identification can significantly reduce disease progression, although, generally, complete cure is not possible. Most treatments involve medication and lifestyle changes, although operations may be needed for advanced heart disease.

Even those identified as at risk of sudden death can be protected by implanting an internal cardioverter defibrillator (ICD or ‘shock-box’). While the facilities to diagnose coronary heart disease are available in most hospitals, up to now, services for screening and supporting relatives of those who died suddenly have not been readily available.

Dedicated accommodation at the CRYP Centre has allowed rapid access to non-invasive cardiac evaluation for individuals since November 2008. The Medical Committee comprises of senior Consultants from St Vincent’s Hospital, Beaumont Hospital and the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast in addition to those from Tallaght and St James.

Aims of CRYP

The CRYP Centre aims to provide a comprehensive evaluation of those diagnosed with, or at risk from, cardiovascular disease, particularly at a young age. This includes relatives of victims of sudden cardiac death where the cause may be inherited. These families are seen as a priority. Patients diagnosed with potentially inherited cardiovascular diseases, such as cardiomyopathies (heart muscle diseases), rhythm disorders, Marfan’s syndrome and premature coronary disease, are also seen, and their relatives are evaluated where appropriate.

The CRYP Centre also provides cardiac evaluation of young patients with symptoms suggestive of cardiac disease, such as unexplained blackout (especially if recurrent or linked to exertion) or shortness of breath or chest discomfort that repeatedly limits exercise capacity. The CRY charity will provide counselling and support on-site and partnerships have been developed with consultants in other hospitals to provide specialist services also.

Access

Access to the CRYP Centre is via referral from a Consultant or General Practitioner, often via the CRY charity. People can be referred from anywhere in the country and there is no charge to the patient, regardless of income or insurance. While focusing primarily on adolescents and young adults, there is no upper age limit for referral to the Centre.