Lotueleli heart Condition

[LatinMind]

Star Lotulelei, one of the elite prospects for the 2013 NFL draft, will not be allowed to work out Monday at the scouting combine after an echocardiogram revealed that the former Utah defensive tackle has a heart condition that requires more testing, according to league sources.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/draft2013/st...heart-condition-work-monday-according-sources

Could drop

 

[Gaede]

Interesting. Hope it's nothing too serious. Would have to be though if they wouldn't even let him participate, right?

 

[TheFinisher]

From what I've read it's either:

A) easily fixable and he is fine, will not affect his draft stock
B) not easily fixable and he retires from football

there's really no gray area when you're dealing with the heart.

 

[LatinMind]

Interesting. Hope it's nothing too serious. Would have to be though if they wouldn't even let him participate, right?

I think right now it was just precautionary.

 

[LatinMind]

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports that Lotulelei’s left ventricle is pumping at 44 percent efficiency, below the normal range of 55 percent to 70 percent.

Hmm, That cant be good.

 

[Avery]

Between him and Jarvis Jones, you have two prospects with immense talent who may be instructed that they shouldn't participate in football.

Hope that both of them can have long careers.

 

[TheCount]

Wow, that's crazy. Even beyond football, I hope he's alright.

 

[Avery]

In reading more, anything below 40% could confirm diagnosis of heart failure. 40% - 55% is below normal.

It's really going to come down to if a cardiologist feels that it's going to constantly keep going down or if it's stabilized. If it's the former, he's done. The latter, probably something to be monitored plus he would have to change his diet to be overly heart-healthy.

 

[Future]

In reading more, anything below 40% could confirm diagnosis of heart failure. 40% - 55% is below normal.

It's really going to come down to if a cardiologist feels that it's going to constantly keep going down or if it's stabilized. If it's the former, he's done. The latter, probably something to be monitored plus he would have to change his diet to be overly heart-healthy.

If that's the case, it could very well mean he has to lose a bunch of weight...possibly ending his career also.

 

[LatinMind]

think you have to seriously question Utah. These players go thru physicals throughout the yr. How come they didnt catch this? Its not like this just popped up.

 

[Future]

think you have to seriously question Utah. These players go thru physicals throughout the yr. How come they didnt catch this? Its not like this just popped up.

You don't catch heart conditions without an EKG, and many physicals don't do that.

Stuff like this slips through the cracks and goes undiagnosed all the time. Unfortunately, it can be fatal at times....I know there have been lots of similar issues, but I think the hockey player who died in Russia (Alex Cherepanov) had something similar. Some kind of heart failure and collapsed before passing away. Here's a guy who was an elite level athlete, and nobody knew about his heart condition. A lot of times, nobody even knows the condition exists until a problem arises.

 

[xwalker]

He did appear to be a completely different player when rested vs when tired.

 

[Eskimo]

If true I can verify that this is very poor heart function. That is bad enough that you have to start testing him to see what the cause was and to ensure that is not going to be a progressive thing.

I will add that you can't determine ejection fraction off of an ECG. Someone must have done an Echocardiogram on him to determine that after the ECG looked funny.

I can't say for sure how much it would affect him on short football plays early in the game but I think it could cause him to tire out easily during the course of the game.

This could push this guy way, way down in the draft. That test result is a big, big deal. One of the big problems outside of the risk of him fatiguing quickly during games would be the fear that the strain of playing football could cause a life-threatening arrhythmia.

 

[TheCount]

If true I can verify that this is very poor heart function. That is bad enough that you have to start testing him to see what the cause was and to ensure that is not going to be a progressive thing.

I will add that you can't determine ejection fraction off of an ECG. Someone must have done an Echocardiogram on him to determine that after the ECG looked funny.

I can't say for sure how much it would affect him on short football plays early in the game but I think it could cause him to tire out easily during the course of the game.

This could push this guy way, way down in the draft. That test result is a big, big deal.

Pfft. What're you, some kind of doctor?! :laugh2:

 

[IAmLegend]

Shame.. hope he's alright, whether he plays football or not.

 

[burmafrd]

this happens a lot it seems. Undiagnosed heart condition. Remember when Jim Fix died? People were shocked that it went unnoticed.

 

[TheFinisher]

Gaines Adams comes to mind too.

 

[visionary]

If true I can verify that this is very poor heart function. That is bad enough that you have to start testing him to see what the cause was and to ensure that is not going to be a progressive thing.

I will add that you can't determine ejection fraction off of an ECG. Someone must have done an Echocardiogram on him to determine that after the ECG looked funny.

I can't say for sure how much it would affect him on short football plays early in the game but I think it could cause him to tire out easily during the course of the game.

This could push this guy way, way down in the draft. That test result is a big, big deal. One of the big problems outside of the risk of him fatiguing quickly during games would be the fear that the strain of playing football could cause a life-threatening arrhythmia.

sorry, i cant agree with this

if you read echo reports, ejection fraction is always reported as +/- 5%
there is a reason for this, becasue this measurement is prone to error
if you add 5 to 44, it suddenly becomes 49% which is right there with 50% (i.e. normal)

bottom line is it is too early to say what is going on at presnt
he needs to see a cardiologist who will likely perform a MRI or cardiac cath to determine the cardiac function accurately, then we can all jump off the deep end

 

[Macnalty]

sorry, i cant agree with this

if you read echo reports, ejection fraction is always reported as +/- 5%
there is a reason for this, becasue this measurement is prone to error
if you add 5 to 44, it suddenly becomes 49% which is right there with 50% (i.e. normal)

bottom line is it is too early to say what is going on at presnt
he needs to see a cardiologist who will likely perform a MRI or cardiac cath to determine the cardiac function accurately, then we can all jump off the deep end

Utah DT Star Lotulelei has been told he can continue working out on his own and that he doesn't have a heart condition but rather dehydration, too much sodium in his diet or rapid weight loss in a short timeframe that prompted tests to reveal his heart wasn't pumping at full capacity. USA Today

 

[Eskimo]

sorry, i cant agree with this

if you read echo reports, ejection fraction is always reported as +/- 5%
there is a reason for this, becasue this measurement is prone to error
if you add 5 to 44, it suddenly becomes 49% which is right there with 50% (i.e. normal)

bottom line is it is too early to say what is going on at presnt
he needs to see a cardiologist who will likely perform a MRI or cardiac cath to determine the cardiac function accurately, then we can all jump off the deep end

The real question is true heart and cardiovascular function and better assessed by something like a VO2max to see what kind of output his heart can really produce - stick him on a treadmill and see what he can do on one of their protocols.

I agree that 44% isn't really bad in the medical realm of things. But we are talking about a world class athlete here where small impairments from normal probably mean a great deal.

Also, when I was thinking about it to get an answer like 44% they probably used a nuclear med scan (call them MUGA) up here which can give a more precise answer regarding heart function as compared to standard ECHO with visual estimation. All the ECHO reports I get up here are reported in 5% increments due to the limitations of accuracy in the process.

Regardless, 44% EF is a big deal in a world class athlete and has to be investigated thoroughly before making a multi-million dollar commitment and before putting the player in a potential life-threatening situation. I've seen situations like this before where it could turn out to be something like an idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy or the effects of a viral myocarditis. It'll be interesting to see what comes out of this and if he will be given the green light to continue to play professional football. The biggest risk to him getting on the field isn't going to be his heart function given the short nature of most football plays and the ability to take plays off when fatigued. To me the big question is whether his condition is progressive and whether he may be prone to arrhythmias.

I wish him good luck and good health.