Huge news regarding Star Lotulelei

[OHK]

Its now being reported it may have been caused by recent dehydration/weight-loss, and is not an actual permanent condition.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/draft/2013/02/25/utah-defensive-tackle-star-lotulelei-nfl-combine/1946109/

[jamos14]

Its now being reported it may have been caused by recent dehydration/weight-loss, and is not an actual permanent condition.

http://www.usatoday....ombine/1946109/

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1542902-breaking-down-star-lotuleleis-surprise-heart-condition

Very misleading. They are HOPING that is the cause but have no idea yet.

Here is a very good article on the condition. Yes ,i know it is bleacher report, but it is a very informative article.

Star Lotulelei will no longer participate in NFL Scouting Combine workouts due to the detection of an abnormal heart condition during medical exams—news that shocked the football world when ESPN's Chris Mortensen first broke the story on Sunday.

According to Mortensen, Lotulelei's heart is functioning at a lower-than-normal level:

Lotulelei was discovered to have an abnormally low Ejection Fraction, detecting that the left ventricle of his heart was pumping at only 44 percent efficiency, sources said. The normal range is between 55-70 percent efficiency.

In other words, the standout lineman may be suffering from a type of "dilated cardiomyopathy"—or heart muscle disease.

Many scouts and draft experts projected Lotulelei to be taken within the first handful of picks. Matt Miller—Bleacher Report's NFL Draft Lead Writer—was one of them. He told me:

"Star entered the Combine as my No. 2 overall player. He was a powerful tackle used to stop the run but shows potential as a pass rusher."

For now, however, those projections might need to be put on hold, and the NFL community's thoughts now turn to the well-being of the former Utah Utes defensive tackle.

Mortensen reports that Lotulelei will undergo further testing in Salt Lake City. To understand what exactly doctors will be looking for, let's first more closely examine the findings of the medical exam.

Mechanistically, the heart is a pretty simple organ. Essentially, it fills up with oxygen-depleted blood, pumps it to the lungs to pick up oxygen, receives the oxygenated blood back from the lungs and finally sends it to the rest of the body.

Blood returns from the body to the heart via the Superior Vena Cava and Inferior Vena Cava by entering the right atrium. It is pumped into the right ventricle and then to the lungs via the pulmonary arteries. It returns from the lungs—now with oxygen—to the left atrium via the pulmonary veins, moves to the left ventricle and finally is ejected outward through the aorta to the rest of the body. Photo from Wikimedia Commons.

That's basically it. It contains complex electrical circuitry, four different chambers and four valves, but at its core, the heart is merely a distribution center.

Nevertheless, the incredible reality of the heart is that with each and every beat, it squeezes hard enough to send blood from head to toe.

Even more amazing? It does so roughly once per second for decades.

Sometimes, though, the heart tires out for one of any number of countless reasons. Other times, damage to the heart muscle prevents it from squeezing hard enough—such as after a heart attack. That is where the ejection fraction comes in.

The left ventricular ejection fraction—LVEF for short—is a value used by the medical community to monitor heart fatigue or failure. It represents the percentage of blood within the heart that is sent forward with each beat. Doctors use echocardiography—an ultrasound of the heart—to directly visualize the beating heart and determine the LVEF by comparing its full and squeezed volumes.

Brief clip describing the left ventricular ejection fraction.

As Mortensen mentions, a normal LVEF is between 55 and 70 percent. That means that a healthy heart will squeeze out 55 to 70 percent of the blood filling its left ventricle—the strongest and most muscular heart chamber that is responsible for sending blood outward to the rest of the body—with each beat.

However, the heart and blood stream are a closed circuit. That means that every drop of blood sent forward necessitates a drop of blood returned. In other words, the heart must not only eject blood forward, but also drive it to return.

When a heart begins to fail—as detected by a decreasing LVEF—blood not only doesn't get to where it needs to go, it also backs up in the heart, lungs and elsewhere.

Is that what is happening to Lotulelei? Right now, it's too early to tell.

In this still picture of an echocardiogram, the four chambers of the heart can be seen. Photo from Wikimedia Commons.

Lotulelei's LVEF of 44 percent is certainly low, but it isn't anything to write home about. Symptoms of poor blood flow—such as shortness of breath and lightheadedness—generally don't begin until 40 percent. When an LVEF dips to 35 percent, fatigue and shortness of breath often limit most activities. Around 25 percent, most physical tasks become impossible, and the threat of damage to internal organs due to low blood flow becomes very large.

So what's the problem with 44 then? Simply, doctors do not yet know if Lotulelei's LVEF is on its way up or down. Whether or not the low LVEF represents a permanent change or is reversible remains up in the air as well.

The tests Lotulelei will undergo in Utah should help answer those questions, but the cause of a dilated cardiomyopathy remains a mystery in up to 50 percent of cases.

Given the fact that Lotulelei's heart condition was unknown until Sunday, and assuming that he had no symptoms, his low LVEF implies one of two things. Either his heart's power has been slowly and steadily declining for some time now, or a recent insult caused a sudden drop. Hopefully, and more likely, it is the latter—acute changes are more likely to be reversible.

Dr. David Rutlen of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences discusses diseases of the heart muscle—known as cardiomyopathies.

Causes of cardiomyopathies are too numerous to count. Anything from viral illnesses, to alcohol consumption, to hormone abnormalities can affect a heart's pumping ability. Even extreme emotion or a "broken heart" following the end of a romantic relationship or death of a loved one—I'm not kidding. It's called Takotsubo cardiomyopathy—can cause symptoms.

Genetic mutations can also be to blame, sometimes representing irreversible, lifelong disease.

Yet as mentioned, many causes are indeed reversible. For example, viral-induced heart failure often resolves once the body clears the infection, and correcting any existing hormone imbalances can kick the heart back into normal gear. Certain vitamin deficiencies can produce Lotulelei's condition as well, and blood tests to determine vitamin levels in his blood could tease them out.

While an asymptomatic LVEF of 44 percent does not really constitute frank heart failure, Lotulelei will require intense monitoring for some time. If his low ejection fraction is due to a chronically progressing underlying disease, he will need to immediately start treatment to halt or delay its course.

Lotulelei must refrain must intense physical activity until the cause of his decreased heart function is identified.

Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Until a cause is identified, Lotulelei must avoid extreme physical exertion, as along with the rest of the body, the heart must also send blood to itself. If the heart cannot meet its own blood demand, heart attacks or life-threatening irregular heartbeats can ensue, and extreme exercise only increases that demand.

Moreover, Lotulelei's finding is just the next chapter in the hotly contested debateover pre-participation screening for cardiac disease. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM)—a disease that can cause sudden death in young, otherwise healthy athletes—has gained fame as a preventable cause of death if the condition is identified before it manifests itself.

In part due to questions over cost-effectiveness, no standardized cardiac screening protocol yet exists in the United States. However, a number of international organizations and European countries officially recommend cardiac screening, and Italian law requires it before participation in competitive athletics.

Where was Star Lotulelei going to be drafted before doctors discovered his heart condition?

First pickPicks 2-5Picks 6-15Second half of the first roundAfter the first roundSubmit Vote vote to see results

Fortunately, this particular condition was caught early.

The threat posed by Lotulelei's slightly lower heart function remains to be seen, and details will continue to surface in the coming weeks as medical evaluations continue. Scouts and fans alike are certainly crossing their fingers that this will resolve on its own, and Lotulelei's agent already confirmed the defensive standout's plans to participate in Utah's March 20 Pro Day.

However, make no mistake—some of the causes of decreased heart function could threaten his playing career altogether. That said, others will not drop his draft stock in the slightest, and according to a Monday report by USA Today's Mike Garafolo, the hope is that recent weight loss and possible dehydration caused abnormalities in the salt levels in Lotulelei's blood—and thus the condition.

If so, that would be incredible news for Lotulelei, and his professional prospects would not be hurt at all.

Nevertheless, since many reversible causes of cardiomyopathy take quite some time to resolve, and since some are chronic, progressive conditions, nothing is a given. His situation should be more clear by April's NFL draft.

By then, Lotulelei's scare may just as well be a distant memory.

Let's hope so, for his sake.

[chknwing]

my father had the same thing, if ur heart is beating out of rythm it can cause this, what they do is give the heart a small jolt to put it back in rhythm so that it camp pump correctly.

[GRWatcher]

I wouldn't draft him but the important thing is here they caught it.

It may end his football career but it will save his life. And the cause could very well be genetic. I had heart valve replacement surgery to correct a genetic defect that killed my dad at 59. If it is a valve, it may just need to be watched closely. They also have the new surgery where they don't open your chest to replace the valve so recovery would be comparatively fast. Most of the recovery time for open heart surgery involves your chest healing fully.

[OHK]

http://bleacherrepor...heart-condition

Very misleading. They are HOPING that is the cause but have no idea yet.

No offense, but its not misleading at all. I said it was being reported, not confirmed. I said it may be the cause, not it is the cause. The article I linked says exactly that. I'm sorry if you somehow managed to interpret it as the source confirming that it was only dehydration, but that's not what I said.

[BigSyke]

What does being empathetic towards an athlete's uncertain future have to do with standing up for basic human equality?

I'll wait....

or maybe i'm a mastermind and i know what will get a response so i can have a little fun with sensitive people lol (all jokes). hmmmmmm

you pick buddy.

you are very smart....maybe smarter than that guy named albert(jokes man)

lighten up..nothing to be mad about.

[BigSyke]

You are the best poster in the history of the huddle!!!!!

JK JK its all jokes!

I'm not going to pretend that I read that wall of text....

i know i am the best poster...nah ill leave that worthless award to you kid.(jokes)

i'm not going to pretend that i pay you any attention...if i recall right... i don't think you like me anyway because of my sig....i could be wrong though. anyways lighten up and stop being sensitive over a statement.

[SuperMan]

i know i am the best poster...nah ill leave that worthless award to you kid.(jokes)

i'm not going to pretend that i pay you any attention...if i recall right... i don't think you like me anyway because of my sig....i could be wrong though. anyways lighten up and stop being sensitive over a statement.

I could car less about your sig... lol

I like everyone else here am just annoyed with your constant thread derailing.

[Captain Morgan]

this mock says we do take a chance on him

http://www.sbnation.com/nfl-mock-draft/2013/2/25/4026530/2013-nfl-mock-draft-combine-star-lotulelei-tank-carradine?sct=uk_t12_a7

[top dawg]

lol fug you guys its all jokes.. :devil:

i never said that i was a heart doctor. :startle:

i never said women would was asking to raped lol more of sexual harassment case waiting to happen.... :startle:

but you can you go ahead and tell women to go on the football field........i saw that injury that marcus lattimore got :startle: ...cant wait to see what she gets. lol :thumbsd:

im laughing because im not taking this stuff serious and you guys are trying to double team me because you lost the argument.........and if you all are that smarter than me, then why do you keep going back and forth with a "6 year" old lol actually it makes you look worse. :cool:

and yes i understand why a few people got mad.....i said everyone cant be vince wilfork.......right....dont seem like much to get mad about but everyone around here is SUPER SENSITIVE.

not going to stop me from what i want to say...i aint scared of none of you political correct muthafugkas.lol(jokes)

all in all its good we all have our different opinions and i even if i dont agree with you, that does not mean i cant have respect for you and vice versa.

the argument is officially over. cased closed.

Syke, I think what everyone is trying to say is that most normal people don't find any comedic value in a potentially career ending heart condition for any athlete, much less a potential NFL star. So it's really not a case of being overly sensitive on anyone's part, but is arguably more of being "asshole-ish" and irreverent on your part. I mean we are not talking about Hitler, we are talking about a humble guy who worked himself into a college star, befitting of a top five NFL draft pick.

Now, you don't have to listen to me, but if I were you I'd take my own advice to Rum, and just leave it alone.

[TheRumGone]

Kind of an update. Thanks to rscott94 in the draft forum

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/draft/2013/02/25/utah-defensive-tackle-star-lotulelei-nfl-combine/1946109/

[rscott94]

Kind of an update. Thanks to rscott94 in the draft forum

http://www.usatoday....ombine/1946109/

Thank you for the shoutout sir... :thumbsu:

[JawnyBlaze]

A trend I'm seeing in almost every mock I've seen that's come out since this news broke is Star falling to us and us taking him.

Tonight (and every night until the draft) I'm praying for two things: 1st) For Star to be ok and have a long, healthy football career. 2nd) For him fall to us and us take him :)