[dirk digler]

I believe this same heart issue sidelined the Red Sox's ace a week or so ago for the season after he had Covid.

Heart condition linked with COVID-19 fuels Power 5 concern about season's viability

https://www.espn.com/college-footbal...ason-viability

A rare heart condition that could be linked with the coronavirus is fueling concern among Power 5 conference administrators about the viability of college sports this fall.

Myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle, has been found in at least five Big Ten Conference athletes and among several other athletes in other conferences, according to two sources with knowledge of athletes' medical care.

The condition is usually caused by a viral infection, including those that cause the common cold, H1N1 influenza or mononucleosis. Left undiagnosed and untreated, it can cause heart damage and sudden cardiac arrest, which can be fatal. It is a rare condition, but the COVID-19 virus has been linked with myocarditis with a higher frequency than other viruses, based on limited studies and anecdotal evidence since the start of the pandemic.

The concern has "made the bar higher" for returning to fall sports, said Dr. Jonathan Drezner, director of the University of Washington Medicine Center for Sports Cardiology and a sports medicine physician who advises the NCAA on cardiac issues, "and it could be we don't get there."

Conference officials and athletic directors told ESPN that the uncertainty about the long-term effects of myocarditis has been discussed in meetings of presidents and chancellors, commissioners and athletics directors, and health advisory board members from the Big Ten, Pac-12 and other conferences around the country. Last week, college administrators saw a Facebook post from Debbie Rucker, mother of Indiana offensive lineman Brady Feeney, who wrote that her son was dealing with potential heart problems after battling COVID-19.

The Mid-American Conference, after receiving medical reports about myocarditis and other problems associated with the coronavirus, was the first FBS conference to postpone fall sports on Saturday.

"What we don't know was really haunting us, and that's why we came to our final decision," Northern Illinois athletics director Sean Frazier said. "That's part of the data that our presidents used. This mom gave us a play-by-play. That stuff is extremely scary."

Dr. John MacKnight, the head primary care team physician at the University of Virginia, said that while questions about COVID-19 testing availability, turnaround time for results, and the impact of a possible community surge of cases have all been factors in deciding to return to competition, the long-term cardiac concerns for athletes may be the tipping point.

"We are collectively, as a sports nation, not quite ready to feel entirely comfortable with what that may look like for our young people down the line, and we are not going to put them in that situation," he said. MacKnight, who directs care for Virginia's athletes, and other school physicians are members of advisory groups that counsel universities and conferences on medical decisions.

MacKnight said "the likelihood the individual goes on to have myocardial complication is very low" in athletes who had no or very low-grade COVID-19 symptoms, but added that there needs to be more studies and data.

"There have been some concerns raised for that very reason: Do you not have uneasiness about having athletes participating knowing that you don't know what that longer-range outlook is? The answer is of course, yes," he said. "We don't have enough information to say this is the likelihood that this will or will not happen."

A spokesperson for the NCAA deferred questions about the number of athletes with myocarditis to individual colleges or conferences. NCAA chief medical officer Dr. Brian Hainline was not available for comment.

Dr. Matthew Martinez, director of sports cardiology for Atlantic Health System in New Jersey, said he has received calls from physicians from at least a dozen Power 5 schools who have identified more than a dozen athletes with some post-COVID-19 myocardial injury. He said about half of them had symptoms.

"Initially we thought if you didn't have significant symptoms that you are probably at less risk. We are now finding that that may not be true," he said.

Martinez, who is the league cardiologist for Major League Soccer, team cardiologist for the New York Jets and a consultant for the National Basketball Players Association, said based on what he's seen so far among professional athletes who have had COVID-19, "I'm hopeful the number is under 5%" who have heart-related issues.

Even though the percentage is likely small, Martinez said there is still so much unknown that it is wise to take a conservative approach in returning athletes to play.