What led to Buffalo Bills’ Damar Hamlin’s collapse?

A possible reason for Buffalo Payments security Damar Hamlin’s jarring collapse and cardiac arrest — witnessed in actual time by thousands and thousands of viewers watching “Monday Night time Soccer” — was instantly acknowledged by coronary heart consultants who additionally occurred to be watching the sport.

“I knew precisely what was happening,” mentioned Dr. Nahush Mokadam, division director of cardiac surgical procedure at Ohio State College Wexner Medical Heart. “The best way he first stood up after which collapsed … it isn’t what a concussion would seem like.”

In a press release launched Tuesday, Hamlin’s household thanked first responders and well being care professionals at College of Cincinnati Medical Heart, the place Hamlin is being handled.

“On behalf of our household, we wish to categorical our honest gratitude for the love and assist proven to Damar throughout this difficult time,” the household wrote.

As of Tuesday afternoon, no briefing has been scheduled on the hospital, NBC Information confirmed.

Neither Mokadam nor every other doctor interviewed for this story is concerned in Hamlin’s remedy. In a press release, the Buffalo Bills has solely mentioned that Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest, when the guts stops beating correctly, and is now in crucial situation.

It was through the first quarter of Monday night’s game between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals when Hamlin, 24, tackled a Bengals receiver, who collided with Hamlin’s chest. Hamlin stood up after the sort out, however instantly collapsed.

Whereas there are a number of potential causes for Hamlin’s cardiac arrest, cardiologists prompt {that a} uncommon phenomenon referred to as “commotio cordis” was responsible.

In such circumstances, “there’s nothing unsuitable with the guts,” mentioned Dr. Hari Tandri, director of the cardiac arrhythmia program at Vanderbilt College Medical Heart in Nashville, Tennessee. A wholesome coronary heart, when hit with blunt drive at a selected time, Tandri mentioned, can launch into an irregular and doubtlessly lethal rhythm.

“It is not about how arduous of successful it was,” mentioned Dr. Comilla Sasson, an emergency medication doctor in Denver and a spokesperson for the American Coronary heart Affiliation. “It’s truly concerning the timing of when the blow occurs.”

Usually, the guts pumps oxygen-rich blood all through the physique about each second. There’s a rhythm to the method, conserving the blood flowing at a wholesome tempo. However each time the guts beats, there’s a tiny second — lower than a fifth of a second — that makes the guts susceptible to the drive of a projectile, resembling a hockey puck or a baseball, that may result in a chaotic and doubtlessly lethal coronary heart rhythm.

It’s on this precise second, consultants say, {that a} blow to the chest within the precise proper place can launch an in any other case wholesome particular person into cardiac arrest. The guts’s electrical system malfunctions, and the guts beating rhythm goes haywire.

Seconds after such an damage are crucial to the affected person’s survival, Sasson mentioned.

“For each one minute that you do not have CPR carried out, your probabilities of survival go down by about 10%,” she mentioned. In Hamlin’s case, medical personnel on the sidelines rushed in to carry out CPR till he was secure sufficient to be taken by ambulance for additional remedy.

It is thought that commotio cordis happens about 15 to twenty instances a yr within the U.S., principally in adolescents taking part in sports activities like baseball, hockey or lacrosse, heart specialist Dr. Mark Hyperlink of the College of Texas Southwestern Medical Heart mentioned.

It is much more uncommon for individuals over the age of 20 as a result of ribs harden with age and are higher capable of shield towards blunt trauma, in line with Hyperlink, who’s a medical cardiac electrophysiologist specializing in coronary heart rhythm issues and an knowledgeable in commotio cordis.

NFL gamers undergo well being screenings, which can embrace scans of the guts, to determine potential well being issues lengthy earlier than they hit the sphere.

This implies that an underlying cardiac situation can be unlikely to go unnoticed, Mokadam mentioned. However there are a number of different causes an individual could go into cardiac arrest. Typically, a blood vessel throughout the coronary heart muscle swells and bursts.

Mokadam mentioned that is unlikely to have occurred in Hamlin’s case. “If it was an aneurysm that burst, he would have wanted emergency open coronary heart surgical procedure,” he mentioned. “CPR and an AED aren’t going to maintain the issue.”

What’s subsequent?

The 24-hour interval after such an damage is crucial, docs say. Physicians are doubtless doing a variety of assessments to ensure there are not any underlying coronary heart issues that might have led to Hamlin’s collapse, or accidents sustained following Monday evening’s collision. This might embrace an ultrasound of the guts, a cardiac MRI and CT scans of the mind.

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