Dr Larry Creswell
In my monthly column at Endurance Corner, I write about Normann Stadler, the 2-time Ironman World Champion who recently underwent urgent heart surgery. He’s making a good recovery early after operation.
I share my thoughts about how heart disease affects even the fittest athletes. The lesson in Stadler’s story is to take charge of your own cardiovascular health.
I had the opportunity this past weekend to be Camp Director for a USAT-sanctioned weekend triathlon training camp hosted by our local triathlon club, the Mississippi Heat Triathlon Team. We had a terrific weekend of swim, bike, and run training along with educational sessions in each sport. The campers included more than 60 athletes of all ability levels and our program included a separate track called Triathlon 101 that was designed specifically for beginners. I thought I would share a story from the camp that highlights the importance of safety planning for such events. Our Sunday morning program included breakfast, an hour-long talk about run training, and then a group run. The athletes could choose among 4-, 6-, 8-, or 10-mile groups. We gathered outside in our various groups, each with a coach, had a short briefing about the run, and headed out. Within sight of the neighborhood clubhouse where we started, one of the campers, a 40-year-old man in the Triathlon 101 group, developed severe chest pain. He stopped and the pain gradually subsided over several minutes. Two of his fellow campers, who were both physicians, tended to him and he walked back to the clubhouse where plans were made to drive him to the hospital for evaluation. As it would turn out, he suffered a mild heart attack, underwent cardiac catheterization, was found to have a severe blockage in one of his coronary arteries, and was treated successfully with a coronary stent. He spent 2 nights in the hospital and is now making a good recovery at home. We shouldn’t be surprised that serious heart disease can manifest in the setting of a group of “healthy” athletes. Heart disease is common even in this population. Some take-home messages: 1. Planners of athletic events should be prepared to deal with heart-related medical emergencies. There should ideally be on-site medical professionals as well as easy telephone access to EMS, if needed. 2. It’s important to recognize that transient symptoms of chest pain or shortness of breath can be related to serious heart problems. 3. Even though there are many health benefits of exercise, athletes assume some finite risk of acute heart-related problems every time they exercise or train.
At the Ironman Canada triathlon last August, Canadian triathlete Walter Eugene Wiwchar became distressed during the swim portion of the race and died.
This article in the online edition of the Penticton (British Columbia) Western News chronicles the day’s events. The article does not completely describe the sequence of events, but apparently Wiwchar was rescued from the water near the completion of the swim portion when he indicated he was in distress. By the time he was rescued, he was unconscious.
The article reports that an autopsy showed that the cause of death was drowning, but that Wiwchar had the condition called aortic dissection–a tearing apart of the layers of the portion of the aorta that carries blood away from the heart and to the rest of the body. The article speculates that the physical distress caused by the aortic dissection probably led, in turn, to the drowning.
We’ve mentioned aortic dissection previously here at the blog, in relation to individuals (like Flo Hyman) who have the Marfan Syndrome. These individuals are particularly predisposed to the problem of aortic dissection. It turns out, though, that most individuals who suffer aortic dissection do not have Marfan Syndrome. It turns out that nearly all individuals with aortic dissection have high blood pressure (that is poorly controlled).
The consequences of aortic dissection are always serious and often fatal. Even with immediate medical attention (and possible surgery to correct the problem), many affected patients die. The most obvious key to prevention of this problem is vigorous treatment of high blood pressure. This is particularly true for athletes.
I was pretty excited for Kyle Garlett, who was trying to become the first heart transplant recipient to complete the Hawaii Ironman race. And just 3 years after his transplant. Unfortunatey, things didn’t work out….and Kyle wasn’t able to complete the 2.4 mile swim before the cutoff.
I watched the online coverage of the race on Saturday at UniversalSports.com and saw that there were a couple swimmers who just barely missed the cutoff time. So close….
Kyle’s follow-up story is detailed in this article at Silicon Valley MercuryNews.com.
Nice article at cnnhealth.com about Kyle Garlett who will be competing at the Ironman World Championship in Kona in a couple weeks. In August, 2008, Dwight Kroening was the first heart transplant recipient to complete an Ironman race, at Ironman Canada.
Amazing what a new (healthy) heart can do!