Bronny James had a cardiac screening several months ago as part of a program for prospective NBA players, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Amid an outpouring of support from fans, friends and fellow athletes, experts say Bronny James and his doctors can now focus on his specific road to recovery after the older son of NBA star LeBron James suffered cardiac arrest during basketball practice Monday at the University of Southern California.
Bronny James, 18, an incoming freshman for USC’s basketball team, was hospitalized following the incident. On Thursday, Dr. Merije Chukumerije, a cardiologist with Cedars-Sinal Medical Center in Los Angeles, said in a statement that James has been discharged and is recovering at home.
Until more is known about the cause of the incident and James’ specific health condition, experts say it’s hard to map out exactly what his recovery will look like, but the fact that he was treated immediately and is already out of the intensive care unit bode well for his recovery, according to Dr. Jonathan Drezner, who specializes in sports cardiology at the University of Washington Medical Center.
“The longer someone is down from cardiac arrest, the more potential damage to their heart tissue, to their brain tissue, to their body,” Drezner told CNN. “A quick stay in the ICU and then a transfer to a lower level of care in a short period of time suggests that there was very little damage and is definitely a good sign.”
Cardiac arrest occurs when electrical disturbances cause the heart to suddenly stop beating. These events are rare among young people, but they are not as rare among young athletes as some might think, Drezner said.
“Bronny represents the single highest athlete risk group” for sudden cardiac arrest, Drezner said.
Drezner’s research on sudden cardiac arrest among young athletes shows that young, Black male, NCAA athletes who play Division I basketball have a 1 in 2,000 chance of experiencing sudden cardiac arrest each year. The risk in a male, White Division I basketball player is 1 in 5,000, according to his research.
“Adolescent male basketball players and college male basketball players, for reasons that we don’t fully understand, are by far our single highest risk group of athletes for sudden cardiac arrest,” said Drezner. “In my opinion, they should all be screened with more robust and intensive cardiac screening than occurs typically.”
Bronny James had a cardiac screening several months ago as part of a program for prospective NBA players, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The screening included a transthoracic echocardiogram, which looks at blood flow through the heart and heart valves, and EKG, which is a recording of the heart’s electrical activity, the source said, and both screenings came back with normal results.
