[News] Letang out long-term

[TurdFerguson]

yikes.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Shelly Anderson @pgshelly
#Penguins ALERT. Letang had a stroke. Will miss at least six weeks.

Shelly Anderson @pgshelly
Letang will be treated with blood-thinners. Not believed to be career threatening. #Penguins

Damn, that is crazy.

Hope he is alright. I assume he was not left with any deficits.

[sureLoss]

http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.ht...t-twt-penguins

Penguins defenseman Kris Letang will miss at least six weeks after having a stroke last week, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manger Ray Shero.

The condition is treatable with blood thinners and at this point is not believed to be career threatening.

Further testing also revealed that Letang, 26, has had a very small hole in the wall of his heart since birth. This small defect in the wall is present in all individuals before birth but seals shut in most people. It is possible that the hole in the heart led to the stroke.

“Kris had one brief episode of dizziness and nausea last week,” Shero said. “We held him out of the Los Angeles game Thursday night, and when he continued to feel ill, tests conducted in Phoenix on Saturday gave us the first indication of his condition. Further testing then was conducted when he returned to Pittsburgh, and he continued to undergo a battery of tests here this week.”

Dr. Dharmesh Vyas of UPMC was on the road trip as part of his regular duties with the team and has been overseeing Letang’s care. Letang will be re-evaluated after six weeks of treatment by UPMC physicians.

Letang has been cleared to go on vacation with his family during the NHL’s Olympic break.

“I hope that by making my condition public at this time, I can help other people by encouraging them to seek medical help if they experience some of the symptoms associated with a stroke – regardless of their age or general health,” Letang said. “It
obviously was a shock to get the news but I’m optimistic that I can overcome this and get back on the ice.”

“The most important thing right now, of course, is Kris’ health,” Shero said. “We’re not thinking about hockey right now. We want to make sure he gets the best possible care
and gets better. After six weeks of treatment, doctors will re-evaluate Kris.”

[sec304]

Wow, awful news.

All the best to Letang, god speed on the recovery!

[dissentowner]

That sucks, hope he recovers completely.

[StrykerSteve]

Scary stuff, best wishes to him and his family.

[Buff]

Scary. Sounds like it was relatively minor if they feel that it is not career threatening but still scary nonetheless. I would be inclined to say his season is done, but sometimes highly trained atheles can make quicker recoveries than us average joes. They'll reevaluate after 6 weeks, which would still give him about 3 weeks of regular season left and then playoffs so it is possible to see him again this year, but I wouldn't want to count on it. This is serious business and his life takes precedence over his career. Glad they appear to be treating it that way too.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Wow, that is crazy. Really hope it all works out and he has a healthy life from here on out.

[Nehkara]

This is really scary stuff. I hope he can recover quickly. Hopefully they can fix his patent ductus arteriosus and prevent this from happening again!

[Joborule]

Scary stuff, but at least he's alright.

[IgiTang]

Wideman would make a good replacement.

Best wishes to Kris Letang and his family through this difficult and
scary time.

[Scoutski]

Crap, that is scary as hell. I think it's kind of crazy that he was able to play at such a high-level for so long with a small hole in his heart.

(No, I have no idea what it would actually do, but it does not sound ideal)

[FlamesAddiction]

Hopefully the long term treatment is effective. Every once in a while you hear of athletes dropping dead from this sort of thing when it is undiagnosed.

[Flames Fan, Ph.D.]

Originally Posted by Nehkara

This is really scary stuff. I hope he can recover quickly. Hopefully they can fix his patent ductus arteriosus and prevent this from happening again!

Actually I think it is this, a patent foramen ovale.

[Fire]

Originally Posted by IgiTang

Wideman would make a good replacement.

Haha wishful thinking.

Teams don't trade for an overpaid player with 3 years left on his contract as a replacement.

[Dang]

Sounds like he had paradoxical embolism. Normally, clots in the venous system can only reach the pulmonary (lung) system but with the patent foramen ovale, they are able to bypass the lungs and reach the brain.

[killer_carlson]

Originally Posted by Fire

Haha wishful thinking.

Teams don't trade for an overpaid player with 3 years left on his contract as a replacement.

Unless we keep salary

[calgarywinning]

This is a bad scenario. I can't believe they are talking about the period of time leading up to the problem. Dang, you seem knowledgable, can you comment is this a "freak" incident or are there other problems?

Thanks

[AcGold]

I wonder if this symptomatic of his lifestyle or something more freakish like Moyamoya

[T@T]

This happened to a friend of a close buddy about 5 years ago, he collapsed to his knees while jogging and it turned out to be a small stroke due to a heart defect. he was about 30 years old at the time and very fit, as far as I know he's back to normal but I think it took a lot longer than 6 weeks.