Injury Report: Letang had a stroke

[Rico Fatastic]

Not on the phone with the GF. I said what she told me.

She did not think that blood thinners would be an option when she talked to me though. The surgery to repair the hole. It is interesting that her 6 week recovery time for that kind of surgery dovetails with the amount of time that the Pens say he could be out though.

From the bit of research I've been able to do, I'm seeing that open heart surgery is not commonly used to correct the abnormality, most commonly a patent foramen ovale (PFO for short). If the doctors are planning to close (or have already closed) the defect in favor of lifelong anticoagulation, they usually run a device through the vascular system and thread it up into the heart and close the hole that way. This treatment is used in lieu of long-term anticoagulation, which is a good thing for Kris, if that is indeed the option they chose. If anyone is interested in reading for themselves, the article I'm referencing can be found here:

http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/122/19/1968.full

FYI: I'm a paramedic. I'm nothing resembling an expert on strokes beyond the acute phase, but I can read and understand a scholarly article on the subject pretty well.

 

[Valarukar]

Some good info on Medscape. Believe you will not need to make an account to access the link.

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/156863-treatment#a1128

 

[Zirakzigil]

Wish Letang a speedy recovery. Strokes can be serious, glad they caught it when they did.

 

[Caje]

It's a stroke. Regardless of the severity, his well being should be his only concern at this point. Shut it down for the rest of the season, ***** the situation, and make a decision on his future based on that.

If the doctors think there's no additional risk in him playing, then why would he sit? The severity of a stroke can vary a lot. I don't think people here understand just how minor some strokes can be.

There's no point in speculating at this point. Hope he's doing well.

 

[Frederick Stanley]

Damn!

You'd think a very fit, active and young person like Letang would never suffer a stroke at this age.

Get well!

But it looks like it wasn't a bad stroke, so hopefully he can recover.

 

[Will Hunting]

David Pagnotta‏@TheFourthPeriod
Penguins say Letang's condition is treatable with blood thinners and isn't career threatening. Scary nonetheless.

https://twitter.com/TheFourthPeriod/status/431830681593720832
It´s scary, but it seems like we are being too pessimistic. From all of the Twitter quotes it sounds like his career might be still OK and that there´s a fair chance that he´s able to play this season.

Hopefully, it´s not that serious and he´ll be OK soon. I might sound too arrogant, but this means more capspace for the Pens on TDL with possibility of Letang coming back after that. Health is all that matters, but I firmly believe that he´ll be OK. Guy is a Great athlete.

 

[Waffle Fries]

This is terrifying. I hope Letang gets better soon.

 

[Ginormousthumbs]

If the doctors think there's no additional risk in him playing, then why would he sit? The severity of a stroke can vary a lot. I don't think people here understand just how minor some strokes can be.

There's no point in speculating at this point. Hope he's doing well.

Even if it is a minor stroke, why not take it easy?

 

[Mordax]

Wow. Healing vibes

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Wow. That's awful.

Sounds like it's very treatable and non-life/career threatening though, which is encouraging. Here's hoping for a speedy, complete recovery.

 

[Michael8771*]

I do think stress helped contribute to this in addition to the other factors.

 

[PensBandwagonerNo272*]

Wow.

Sounds like he is feeling better (going on vacation with his family over the break). Hope that things remain positive and he gets better.

 

[ericstrat1]

Get well soon Letang!

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Prompt rétablissement, Kristopher!

Scary stuff, hopefully he can live a normal life, continue his career and most importantly, take care of his child.

I follow him since he was 17 so I'm quite moved by this news.

 

[Ally22]

Christ that's scary. Hope he recovers quickly and it doesn't become more serious

 

[Dr Danglefest]

Hope he makes a full recovery at his own pace.

Anyone know what caused it or attributed to it occurring, I know there isn't always a clear cause but just curious. Maybe too soon to tell

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

This came out of nowhere. Hope for a speedy recovery.

 

[Waffle Fries]

Here's the full transcript from Bylsma's meeting with the media today

http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=704186&cmpid=pit-twt-penguins

 

[colchar]

there is no such thing as a "minor" stroke.

Yes, there are. Doctors grade strokes based on severity and some are classed as minor just like some heart attacks are classed as minor. Nobody is saying that it isn't serious, just that it is classed as minor based on the scale of severity that doctors use.

Sid's concussion issues should have disabused anyone of the notion of mild mental health issues.

Concussion issues are not mental health issues, they are physical issues that just happen to concern the brain.

Things like depression, schizophrenia, etc. are mental health issues - concussions are the result of physical injuries to the brain and are not mental health issues.

 

[Til the End of Time]

so he has a pfo. they are fairly common in the population. i forget exactly but like 20-40% of the population have them.

 

[Dying Alive]

The timeline is interesting:

http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=704184&cmpid=pit-twt-penguins

 

[Til the End of Time]

you dont need to do an open heart surgery to repair a pfo. maybe 20 years ago you did.

interventional cardiology can place a patch endovascularly, probably through an incision in the femoral artery in his leg.

 

[Tatar Shots]

This is terrible news to hear best of luck to Letang in his recovery. I can't see him playing again this year. I don't know if he can have surgery on his heart to prevent this from happening again, but I do know he will never play again if he needs to be on blood thinners. I hope everything works out well for him and at the very least at least he got that new contract which would take care of him for the rest of his life.

 

[GifKing*]

With todays technology and the resistance to play when you feel something is not right, i'm sure Letang will fully recover. As soon as i read this article it reminded me of Miklos Feher who use to play for my favourite soccer club Benfica. He complained about sickness in earlier weeks but ignored the signs. He died on the soccer pitch in the middle of a game. Being cautious in undoubtedly the right decision Letang made.

Cheers and good luck from a Leafs fan.

 

[Til the End of Time]

the question is why did letang have a clot in the first place?

normally a clot that develops in the venous system goes to the right side of the heart and then gets sent into the lungs. a clot from the venous system would normally thus block the blood flow to the lungs and cause a pulmonary embolism. that can be lethal.

the patent foramen ovale that failed to close in letang allows fetal bloodflow to bypass the lungs. in the fetus blood from the veins enters the right heart and then flows into the left heart through the foramen ovale. this blood then gets pumped into the systemic circulation (ie brain and body). normally this closes within a few hours/days of birth so that the lungs no longer bypassed.

but in a large portion of the population this remains open slightly. for most people its not a problem. if its big or causes problems they close it endovascularly.

they can close the hole without too much problem imo.

the question is why he had a clot in the first place. even if he didnt have the pfo, that clot would have been sent to his lungs and caused a pulmonary embolus which is no joke either.

is he predisposed to clotting like vokoun is?