What causes cardiac arrest in young, seemingly healthy athletes like Bronny James? Dr. Celine Gounder explains
CBSN
Bronny James, the son of basketball legend LeBron James, suffered cardiac arrest during practice with his college team on Monday — raising questions about how it's possible for a seemingly healthy 18-year-old to lose heart function.
Dr. Celine Gounder, a CBS News medical contributor and editor-at-large for Public Health at KFF, said that several scenarios could have played out that resulted in James suffering from the life-threatening condition.
One possibility is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a thickening of the heart muscle that is often observed in elite athletes and sometimes in individuals with certain genetic predispositions, Gounder said. Another scenario is commotio cordis, in which a sudden blow to the chest disrupts the cardiac rhythm, leading to cardiac arrest. The third possibility is a genetic arrhythmia, an abnormal heart rhythm, she said.
