Sudden deaths are not uncommon in basketball. Researchers have analyzed, for the first time, the cardiac characteristics of basketball players in the NBA.
All basketball fans will remember Reggie Lewis, a Boston Celtics player, who died in the middle of a game on July 27, 1993 at just 27 years old, at the height of his career. Sudden athlete death concerns all disciplines, but its incidence among basketball players is breaking all records. However, no specific study had yet been interested in them. In collaboration with the American Basketball Association (NBA), researchers at Columbia University, near New York, studied in detail the hearts of 526 basketball players playing in the NBA during the 2013-2014 and 2014 seasons. 2015.
This study comes at the right time, as Channing Frye’s chaotic transfer (pictured) to the Cleveland Cavaliers was a reminder of the dilemma clubs face. When certain a priori minor pathologies arise during the medical examination, they must make a choice: sign the player while perhaps taking a risk for his health – and in the process a huge financial risk -, or refuse the transfer for medical reasons, even if it means putting an end to the player’s career for no really substantiated reason.
2 meters on average
To help them in this choice, club doctors need to better discriminate between normal and pathological in athletes with disproportionate height, two meters on average. In addition, three quarters of NBA players are of African-American origin, a population prone to heart problems.
“We already knew that there were some differences in cardiac morphology between Caucasian athletes and those of African or Caribbean origin, whose heart walls are thicker,” explains Professor François Carré, cardiologist and sports doctor at the Pontchaillou hospital in Rennes. But this study provides specific information on a population as special as basketball players, and we really needed it. “
A description but not really an explanation
The authors hope their work will make it easier to identify and better understand the specific risks for basketball players and tall athletes. “We have compiled a database of all cardiac dimensions,” explains Dr. Engel, head of the study. The information we have gathered will serve as a working basis for practitioners dealing with basketball players. Sports physicians will thus be able to define better adapted prevention strategies.
Finally, despite their large size, the differences with other top athletes are not significant. NBA players presented with left ventricular hypertrophy – an increase in the thickness of one of the walls of the heart – in 27% of cases, a proportion that would not be abnormal in high-level athletes, concludes l ‘study.
Why then is the incidence of sudden death so important among basketball players? Failing to answer this question, the study offers a description of a “normal” basketball player’s heart, which will make it possible to better discern the pathologies in the players concerned.
1,200 deaths in France per year
According to an estimate by Professor Carré, every year in France, around 1,200 people die while playing sports, of which 100 to 200 are under 35 years old. Among them, in 60 to 80% of cases, an abnormality could have been detected by an electrocardiogram.
For sports in “amateur” structures, a simple certificate from the attending physician is required at the start of each season. Unfortunately, this exam is sometimes dispatched and allows dangerous pathologies to pass for intensive practice. High-level athletes should specifically consult a sports doctor who will perform an electrocardiogram. They also have to have an echocardiogram once in their career and have a stress test every five years.
An electrocardiogram to reduce the risks
The French authorities are considering a modification of the procedure authorizing the practice of a sport in amateur competition. “According to a preliminary study that we carried out, ultrasound and stress testing would not provide significant added value for the detection of cardiac problems leading to sudden death,” explains Professor Carré. A classic examination with a thorough interrogation and an EKG would be the most effective combination ”.
The French Society of Cardiology recommends maintaining visits to a general practitioner or a sports doctor, and not necessarily to a cardiologist. But this visit, which could be less frequent, should be accompanied by a systematic electrocardiogram.
.