Injury Report: Letang had a stroke

[Vujtek]

Really feel for the guy and i pray he can get back to where he once was performance wise.

Quick question possibly been asked but i do not want to go through the whole thread, anyone know why Letang is still listed as DTD rather than on IR?

Because the team hasn't needed yet to free up a roster spot. Both Letang and Martin are still on active roster. That'll change as soon as they need to call up someone, or activate Vokoun/Bennett/Conner or to create some cap flexibility by putting either Letang and/or Martin on LTIR.

Here's to hoping for a quick recovery for Letang. Hopefully he can return this year but no sense rushing it. If he needs to stay out the rest of the season so be it. His long-term health needs to be #1 priority.

 

[Til the End of Time]

You don't seem to have any empathy, compassion, etc for people. Why do you want to be a doctor

Not trying to be a dick, it's just rather confusing.

no worries. i look at professional athletes that i watch for entertainment and patients that are seeking medical help slightly different.

besides, it would be unfortunate for letang if he had to retire but he still would be getting paid insurance money that would put him in the top 0.05% of earners in the country. i wouldnt feel that bad, particularly when it would help the penguins.

 

[Shady Machine]

no worries. i look at professional athletes that i watch for entertainment and patients that are seeking medical help slightly different.

besides, it would be unfortunate for letang if he had to retire but he still would be getting paid insurance money that would put him in the top 0.05% of earners in the country. i wouldnt feel that bad, particularly when it would help the penguins.

That's fair. It was none of my business really, I was just having trouble reconciling your apparent dislike of the players as human beings and your desire to be a physician.

I understand hockey is a business and I get frustrated a lot with Letang as a player, but I hope he gets back to playing hockey because it's a shame to see a young guy have a stroke and have it ruin his career. Yeah money and family life is important but hockey is all these guys know so it's sad to see him have to deal with this.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Ok I just saw a interview in french on RDS. Now this is in Letang's own language. the stroke scared the hell out of him, it STILL shows. He put on a good attempt at hiding it but the kid is scared to hell right now. He still shows signs of problems and did admit that some parts in his brain do NOT function anymore and he will have to try to re-learn things like balance and a few other things. Reporters were very soft on him, tears were NOT far and admitted it might take a year or two and that is IF his brain can develop new pathways to certain areas. The only news that one might think is good is that Letang said his doctors told him the best news is that he is only 26 and has lots of time to try to recoup.
The kid needs a pray or two for sure.

The part where he spoke about a "tache" (stain would be the litteral translation, but I guess "spot" would be a better one here) in his brain scared the **** out of me.

 

[FDBluth]

That's fair. It was none of my business really, I was just having trouble reconciling your apparent dislike of the players as human beings and your desire to be a physician.

I understand hockey is a business and I get frustrated a lot with Letang as a player, but I hope he gets back to playing hockey because it's a shame to see a young guy have a stroke and have it ruin his career. Yeah money and family life is important but hockey is all these guys know so it's sad to see him have to deal with this.

Obviously, Letang's stroke sucks big time from a personal perspective. You can't help but wish nothing but the best for him.

From a hockey perspective, it really kinda screwed the Penguins. They should have been looking very hard to shop him this year, as his NTC (man, Shero just gives those things out like they're going out of style) will make it much harder to move him in the following years. Everyone knows that his play does not validate his contract, even if he does put up big points sometimes. It'll be next to impossible to move him now, unless the team's landscape changes considerably.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Did Letang say why they didn't just opt to close the hole in his heart? I'm a little confused why that isn't being addressed.

I know with my niece who had a similar problem, she was only 6, so they felt the hole would eventually close and it did. With Letang, the guy is 26 and a fully grown adult. Is it even possible for the hole to suddenly close at this point in his life?

Why not close the hole so there isn't a chance of this recurring again.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

He did say that.

And I was every bit as confused about the very same thing. I suppose there must be a reason for it. Maybe his entire camp is still in the "waiting for more information" phase and balancing their options? I dunno.

Even if he opts to hang 'em up... I feel like it would still be beneficial to have the procedure done. I'm far from a medical expert, though.

 

[Old Gregg]

Ya I am not too sure why Letang doesn't have to hole in the heart fixed. My wife(who's a nurse) said this was most likely the cause for it though she did bring up another possibility. Letang had some elbow injury not too long ago. She is wondering if he may have thrown a clot from whatever procedure he had done on the elbow.

Either way...he should probably still have that hole fixed.

 

[Upgrayedd]

Because the team hasn't needed yet to free up a roster spot. Both Letang and Martin are still on active roster. That'll change as soon as they need to call up someone, or activate Vokoun/Bennett/Conner or to create some cap flexibility by putting either Letang and/or Martin on LTIR.

Here's to hoping for a quick recovery for Letang. Hopefully he can return this year but no sense rushing it. If he needs to stay out the rest of the season so be it. His long-term health needs to be #1 priority.

Thanks for clearing that up for me, hope he recovers fully and can simply enjoy life, and one day come back as he is a treat to watch....felt awful for him after his interview detailing the events really sad to see.

 

[drpepper]

Two reasons why they may not have closed the PFO. (1) The PFO was incidental and not causal in Letang's stroke. (2) The reoccurrence of stroke is low in PFO patients, and there is little evidence to date that closing the hole lowers the risk of a reoccurrence.

Also, in most stroke patients rehabilitation is started as soon as possible. (Learn more)

Finally, Letang has spent his whole life playing hockey; it is probably his dream to be playing in the NHL. If possible, why wouldn't he try to come back? (See also, Joe Adams, Tedy Bruschi, Claire Cordua, etc)

 

[RottenScoundrel]

Everybody is born with this condition. The hole closes on it's own ninety plus percentage of the time. As a child registers for school, which is what happened in my case, they are required to have a doctors physical. This was when my defect was found. Not long after I was scheduled for open heart surgery for what's known as a ASD repair. From my childhood through my late thirties I never had a problem.

How Letang's condition was never noticed is beyond baffling. He needs to shut his season down and have this ASD repair. He's a world class athlete who should have no problem making a speedy recovery.

 

[Shady Machine]

Everybody is born with this condition. The hole closes on it's own ninety plus percentage of the time. As a child registers for school, which is what happened in my case, they are required to have a doctors physical. This was when my defect was found. Not long after I was scheduled for open heart surgery for what's known as a ASD repair. From my childhood through my late thirties I never had a problem.

How Letang's condition was never noticed is beyond baffling. He needs to shut his season down and have this ASD repair. He's a world class athlete who should have no problem making a speedy recovery.

From what I heard, they said about 1 in 4 people have this hole so I don't know where you got the 90+ percent thing from.

 

[Waffle Fries]

I think Letang said that they don't think the hole was the main cause of the stroke and that's why he's not having it closed.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Two reasons why they may not have closed the PFO. (1) The PFO was incidental and not causal in Letang's stroke. (2) The reoccurrence of stroke is low in PFO patients, and there is little evidence to date that closing the hole lowers the risk of a reoccurrence.

Also, in most stroke patients rehabilitation is started as soon as possible. (Learn more)

Finally, Letang has spent his whole life playing hockey; it is probably his dream to be playing in the NHL. If possible, why wouldn't he try to come back? (See also, Joe Adams, Tedy Bruschi, Claire Cordua, etc)

Bruschi's stroke was bad from what I remember. It was a clot in his brain and he had to regain all of his motor functions again. He had the stroke shortly after the SB... Rehabbed and was back by the start of the next season. He lead the team in tackles a couple of times and played in another SB. He only missed something like 5 games in four seasons after the stroke.

So there is a lot of hope for Letang, but he needs to be like Crosby and just wait until his body is ready.

 

[Sidney BrOSSby*]

From what I heard, they said about 1 in 4 people have this hole so I don't know what you got the 90+ percent thing from.

Probably from the left-wing lock.

 

[RottenScoundrel]

I don't know the exact percentage but I assure you it's greater than 25%.

For the record, atrial fibrillation plagued me in my latter thirties which lead to an eventual 2nd open heart surgery for what's known as the Maze procedure.

I had a stroke (no residual effects, thank God) a year and half later. That was about two years ago. Since then, I've been good to go.

 

[Antaris]

I'd be really surprised if Letang retired after this.

Likley the reason as to why they have not sealed the Foramen Ovale is because is probably being examined to prove that the reason for his episode cannot be contributed to some other medical reason. Even after if they would be to prove that the likley reason to his epside was a PFO, it's not guaranteed that it will be surgically fixed, by catherization. It's not a 100% proven that there is any medical gain by fixing it surgically. Right now he could be on anti-thrombotics (not warafin or anything like that but somewhere along the line) and they could be waiting to do a couaguation review And yes the incidence of people with an foramen ovale deformation is about 20-25%. Now things are different on this side of the pond so don't go bonanza if you'd be of a different opinion.

 

[strandvag]

I don't know the exact percentage but I assure you it's greater than 25%.

For the record, atrial fibrillation plagued me in my latter thirties which lead to an eventual 2nd open heart surgery for what's known as the Maze procedure.

I had a stroke (no residual effects, thank God) a year and half later. That was about two years ago. Since then, I've been good to go.

There is a difference between Atrial septal defect (ASD) and a patent foramen ovale (PFO)(which letang and 20% of the population have)

 

[RottenScoundrel]

There is a difference between Atrial septal defect (ASD) and a patent foramen ovale (PFO)(which letang and 20% of the population have)

Gotcha. Thanks for the information.

 

[Jacob]

If 25% of people have this same hole in their heart than there's no way that would be the cause of his stroke. 1/4th of the players in the league would also be prone to strokes.

 

[PensFanSince1989]

Bruschi's stroke was bad from what I remember. It was a clot in his brain and he had to regain all of his motor functions again. He had the stroke shortly after the SB... Rehabbed and was back by the start of the next season. He lead the team in tackles a couple of times and played in another SB. He only missed something like 5 games in four seasons after the stroke.

So there is a lot of hope for Letang, but he needs to be like Crosby and just wait until his body is ready.

Bruschi sat out an entire season.

Now, part of it was just me hating the Patriots with a passion, and it's great that Bruschi came back from it, and competed for sometime after it, but man was I annoyed with the coverage of him. I remember his first play back, the announcers going crazy and saying stuff like, what a storybook comeback, on his first play, he got the first touch on the ball carrier, could it be any better...well, yeah, he could have made the tackle. But seriously, it was great that he was able to recover and hopefully Letang can too and play for quite some time afterwards.

 

[PensFanSince1989]

If 25% of people have this same hole in their heart than there's no way that would be the cause of his stroke. 1/4th of the players in the league would also be prone to strokes.

It was the cause of Tedy Bruschi's stroke.

 

[vikingGoalie]

I forgot about the procedure on the elbow. That could easily explain the clot and the need for thinners. It would also explain not fixing the hole. That said I am dumbfounded that his mother (in-law?) nurse found him collapsed on the floor in a confused state and didn't take him to the hospital to at least get checked out. I mean he got on a plane afterwards and wasn't until a day later when he was still having issues that they started to check him out. Wtf?

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Bruschi sat out an entire season.

Now, part of it was just me hating the Patriots with a passion, and it's great that Bruschi came back from it, and competed for sometime after it, but man was I annoyed with the coverage of him. I remember his first play back, the announcers going crazy and saying stuff like, what a storybook comeback, on his first play, he got the first touch on the ball carrier, could it be any better...well, yeah, he could have made the tackle. But seriously, it was great that he was able to recover and hopefully Letang can too and play for quite some time afterwards.

Well, we are both wrong. He didn't start the season or miss it entirely:

In May of that year, Bruschi acknowledged that he was uncertain he would ever play again. Two months later, The Associated Press reported he would miss the 2005 campaign. In September, Bruschi announced that he intended to return to the Patriots for the 2006 season. And then, on Oct. 16, only eight months after the stroke, he said he would come back for the remainder of the 2005 season.

Two weeks later, in a 21-16 victory over the Buffalo Bills, he recorded 10 tackles in his return performance.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs07/columns/story?id=3220216

 

[strandvag]

I forgot about the procedure on the elbow. That could easily explain the clot and the need for thinners. It would also explain not fixing the hole. That said I am dumbfounded that his mother (in-law?) nurse found him collapsed on the floor in a confused state and didn't take him to the hospital to at least get checked out. I mean he got on a plane afterwards and wasn't until a day later when he was still having issues that they started to check him out. Wtf?

1) You don't need blood thinners for procedures / surgery of the upper extremities (shoulder, arms). You will have to have very obvious symtoms to start therapy here. A cold, blue hand that have no pulsation would be a reason.
2) You need to know the difference between the arterial and the venous system.
3) A possible blood cloth in the arterial system of the elbow would make very obvious symtoms distal of the cloth, your arm would be affected. Basically a arterial blod cloth in the arm would make everything beneath the cloth hypoxic, same with the legs (see Voukoon). They are not risk factors for stroke.
4) Surgery of the lower limb requires for you to get blood thinners but because the immobilized limb may cause venous thrombosis and you are afraid for the blood cloth to break free and wander upstreams. However the venous systems aren't leading to the brain they are leading to the lungs and you are afraid of pulmonary embolism.
5) There are very few studies that show the benefits of heart surgery in a patent foramen ovale (As Antaris mentioned). There are 2 RCT-studies on the subject soon to be released which will be very interesting to read.
6) There is a positive correlation between a patent foramen ovale and migraine / strokes which isn't fully understood yet (The RCT-studies will be welcomed).
7) A heart that is behaving awkward where blood is coagulating in the heart area (most known cause, atrial fibrillation) and a cloth is released have a high chance of following the arteriall system up towards the brain area, in those cases you most likely will get substances like warfarin (the first actual purpose of this substance was to poison rats) subscribed.
8) a long way to say; you can rule out the elbow.
9) I don't think this was a minor stroke, the minors are called transient ischemic attack (TIA) and the symptoms don't last over 24 hours.
10) He was "lucky"- feels awful to write that, sorry, the symtoms mirrors where in the brain this is taking place. In another place it might get you paralyzed on the whole half of the body. Don't think he would have been able to return if that happened.