Bronny James, the son of superstar Lebron James, did not show any signs of future problems during a health screening months before his cardiac arrest at basketball practice, according to a new report.
The 18-year-old recently underwent a cardiac screening as part of a program for prospective NBA players, a source told CNN.
The screening included a transthoracic echocardiogram – which looks at blood flow through the heart and heart valves – and an EKG, which is a recording of the heart’s electrical activity, the source said. Both tests came back with normal results, suggesting there were not preexisting problems that could have led to the cardiac arrest, the source said.
Bronny was hospitalised on Monday morning after losing consciousness during a heart complaint at a practice session with his University of Southern California team.
The USC freshman received initial treatment from team medical staff before he was rushed in an ambulance at “Code 3, lights and sirens” to Cedar-Sinai Medical Center. Bronny has since been released from an intensive care unit and is reportedly in stable condition.
His NBA legend father spoke out about the incident for the first time on Thursday, tweeting: “I want to thank the countless people sending my family love and prayers. We feel you and I’m so grateful.
“Everyone doing great. We have our family together, safe and healthy, and we feel your love. Will have more to say when we’re ready but I wanted to tell everyone how much your support has meant to all of us!”
Bronny’s parents previously released a statement expressing “deepest thanks and appreciation” to the medical and athletic staff who helped their son.
This isn’t the first time that such an event has occurred for the USC Trojans. The Los Angeles Times reported that Vince Iwuchukwu, who was also a freshman, suffered a cardiac arrest on campus. Six months later, he was able to play again.
While there has been an outpouring of support for Bronny, some social media users have also taken the opportunity to attribute the incident to the Covid-19 vaccine.
“We cannot ascribe everything to the vaccine, but, by the same token, we cannot ascribe nothing,” Elon Musk tweeted on Tuesday. “Myocarditis is a known side-effect. The only question is whether it is rare or common.”
Laura Ingraham came to Mr Musk’s defence: “Today Elon Musk was pilloried for suggesting that the Covid shot might have had something to do with what happened to Bronny.”
She continued, “No, he may be completely wrong. It’s speculation. But we do know that myocarditis is a side-effect of the vaccine. Given everything the so-called experts got wrong during Covid, we shouldn’t condemn anyone who is asking questions – as these cases seem to be accelerating.”
While there seems to be a connection between myocarditis and Covid-19 vaccines, research suggests the risk of myocarditis is considerably higher from contracting the virus than from getting the vaccine.
Vaccine aside, Dr Jonathan Drezner, director of the University of Washington Medicine Center for Sports Cardiology, told CNN that “Bronny represents the single highest athlete risk group” for sudden cardiac arrest.
His research on sudden cardiac arrest in young athletes supports this, showing that young, Black male, NCAA athletes who play Division I basketball have a 1 in 2,000 chance of experiencing the medical event every year. This is much higher than in White male Division I basketball players, which is 1 in 5,000, the outlet reported.
