Bronny James suffers cardiac arrest at USC workout and is in stable condition
Bronny James, the highly touted USC freshman and son of Lakers star LeBron James, lost consciousness during a workout at the Galen Center on Monday and was treated for cardiac arrest.
James, 18, was in stable condition Tuesday morning after a brief stint in the intensive care unit, according to a spokesperson for the James family.
It is the second time a USC freshman basketball player suffered cardiac arrest while practicing in a little over a year. Vince Iwuchukwu returned to the court six months after his cardiac arrest on campus. It’s unclear whether James’ recovery would follow a similar path.
“LeBron and Savannah wish to publicly send their deepest thanks and appreciation to the USC medical and athletic staff for their incredible work and dedication to the safety of their athletes,” the James family said in a statement.
Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics were called to the Galen Center, where USC practices, at 9:26 a.m. Monday for a medical emergency, according to a department spokeswoman.
Bronny James lost consciousness and was taken “Code 3, lights and sirens” to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center shortly after the ambulance arrived, according to a source who was not authorized to speak about the situation publicly.
USC declined to comment on the situation, citing student privacy concerns.
The Trojans athletic trainers have had dealt with comparable medical emergencies it the past.
Iwuchukwu collapsed at a practice last summer and was revived on site by USC trainers using an automated external defibrillator.
Iwuchukwu was initially told that he would never play basketball again. But doctors reversed course on that prognosis days later.
The player made a full recovery and returned to the basketball court six months later, albeit with a battery-powered pulse generator installed in his chest to constantly monitor his heart rate.
that the fact James was moved out of the intensive care unit within 24 hours of his heart episode was “really promising.”
“Even for a young, healthy athlete, being out of the ICU already is pretty good,” said Dr. Cheng-Han Chen, interventional cardiologist and medical director of the structural heart disease program at MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills.
Some of the most physically fit athletes have suffered severe cardiac episodes in past.
In the U.S., 75% of all sudden deaths that occur while NCAA athletes are playing sports are attributable to cardiovascular conditions, according to Dr. Satyajit Reddy, a sports cardiologist with the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix.
A 2016 study found that NCAA athletes ran a 1-in-53,703 risk of sudden cardiac death. That burden was not equally shared.
If the athlete was Black, their risk more than doubled to 1 in 21,491. And if they were a men’s basketball player, the risk was 1 in 8,978.
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