Sudden Death for Athletes Is Not Uncommon

Sudden death heart attacks are the result of so many causes doctors cannot pinpoint a recurring trend, Mason Weiss, cardiologist at Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Inglewood, said Sunday night.

Weiss, the attending physician Sunday after star basketball player Hank Gathers collapsed and died during a Loyola Marymount game in Westchester, said there is a general misconception of the effects that strike young athletes.

“There are very different causes for these deaths,” he said.

Pete Maravich, former LSU and NBA scoring champion, died after collapsing during a pick-up game at a Pasadena church in January, 1988, at age 40. Doctors said he died from undetected blockage to the heart.

Flo Hyman, one of the United States’ best volleyball players, died in January, 1986, after collapsing in a match in Japan. She was 31 and died from Marfan’s Syndrome, a rare congenital disorder of connective tissue usually found in tall people.

Jeff Drenth, a world-class distance runner, collapsed after a training run and died of an irregular heart beat in January, 1985. Drenth, 24, had a history of arrhythmia.

Larry Gordon, a Miami Dolphin linebacker, collapsed while jogging and died from an irregular heart beat in January, 1983, at age 28.

Those victims, and many more like them who died while involved in physical activity, simply do not have as much in common as it would seem, Weiss said.

“The reason of sudden death in young athletes runs the gamut,” Weiss said.

He also said such deaths are not considered uncommon.

“There are reams of medical literature on sudden death,” he said.

Gathers collapsed after shooting a free throw Dec. 9 and underwent a battery of tests in a local hospital. He missed two games and then returned to action after clearance by his physician.

Doctors suspected that an accelerated heartbeat caused him to pass out, and they prescribed medication to regulate his heartbeat.

Weiss could not speculate on what happened to Gathers, a player expected to be drafted by an NBA team. Michael Mellman, Gathers’ physician, could not be reached Sunday night.

“He sustained cardiac arrest and the cause is unknown,” Weiss said. “Anything else is speculation. We need to wait for an autopsy.”

Weiss said that, although Gathers passed tests after the Dec. 9 incident, he, like any patient, was still susceptible to the dangers of his ailment.

“There are never any guarantees that something like this will not happen,” he said. “You can be sure only within the realm of reasonable expectations. That’s why he was cleared to play.”

After Maravich died, Paul Thompson of Brown University, an expert on sudden death heart attacks, likened the tragedy to the stock market.

“You take a risk while you exercise,” he said. “With exercise you’re looking for longevity. With the stock market you are looking to make money. But it is a risk.”