Sudden heart death
Doctors
are trying to find out why Cameroon international footballer Marc
Vivien-Foe died from a heart attack at the age of 28.
However, an underlying heart defect such
as "long QT syndrome" will be high on their list of suspects.
Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS), has
been described by some experts as the adult version of cot death in
infants.
They believe that many cases may be caused
by heart arrhythmias – when the heartbeat races without warning.
This can cause fainting – or in very rare
cases – collapse and death even in very young adults.
Long QT syndrome
Many of these arrhythmias are also
described as Long QT Syndrome, a particular disorder of the electrical
system of the heart.
The problem centres on the length of time
it takes the electrical system to recharge following a heatbeat. This is
known as the QT interval.
People who have a long QT interval are more
vulnerable to a very fast, abnormal heart rhythm.
When this rhythm occurs, no blood is pumped
out from the heart, and the brain quickly becomes deprived of blood
causing sudden loss of consciousness and sudden death.
Long QT syndrome is inherited in some
cases, and many experts say that the high risk of a fatal arrhythmia
brought on by exercise means that all young athletes should be screened
for it.
Those who are diagnosed as having it should
not take part in competitive sport, it has been suggested.
However, it is not just during strenuous
exercise that a fatal arrhythmia can strike.
Sudden death can often occur when the
victim is asleep, or when they are waking up.
Not all patients who have this condition
have any symptoms – about one-third never develop any.
In the other two-thirds, some have just one
or two fainting spells as children.
Hard to find
It is not an easy condition to spot,
especially on a routine heart health check of the type normally given
during a footballer's medical.
The subtle clues to Long QT syndrome may be
absent entirely during a single scan.
However, when a doctor is looking
specifically for Long QT, monitoring the heart rhythm over a longer
period, the telltale signs can be picked up.
Scientists do not know exactly how common
Long QT is – there are a lot of undiagnosed cases out there.
Patients identified as being at risk can be
given drugs known as beta-blockers to slow heart beat.
Other drugs can be used for patients who
have a specific form of the disorder.
Once treated, it is very important that the
medication be taken every day and not missed or omitted.
The medications are not curative – they
only provide protection while being taken and the protecting effect is
gone within a day or two of stopping the medication.
Undiagnosed problems
There are other heart conditions, which, if
left untreated, can precipitate a fatal attack even at a young age in an
apparently healthy adult.
Another footballer, Kanu, who now plays for
Arsenal, had a heart valve problem which, doctors said, could have caused
a heart attack on the field of play.
He
received surgery to fix the problem at the age of 20, and has had no
problems continuing his career at the highest level.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/medical_notes/3025550.stm
Yorath
health call after Foe death
Former
Wales football manager Terry Yorath says the sudden death of soccer star
Marc-Vivien Foe brought memories of the death of his teenage son Daniel
flooding back.
Yorath also called for more stringent tests
to be carried out on a regular basis at clubs to safeguard players'
health.
He was watching Cameroon play Colombia on
Thursday night when Foe crumpled onto the pitch.
The 28-year-old Premiership footballer
regarded as one of the fittest players in the game was declared dead
shortly afterwards.
For Yorath, it revived the dreadful memory
of how in 1992 15-year-old Daniel collapsed as he was enjoying a
kick-about with his father in the back garden of their home. Daniel,
who had just signed schoolboy forms with Yorath's former club Leeds
United, died in his helpless father's arms from a heart condition known as
hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
"The
way he collapsed was exactly the same way as Daniel collapsed," said
Cardiff-born Yorath, who won 59 Welsh caps as a player and managed the
national side for five years in the 1990s
