Bronny James, the eldest son of the Lakers star LeBron James, was hospitalized on Monday after going into cardiac arrest during basketball practice.
A spokesperson for the James family said on Tuesday that the 18-year-old is in stable condition and out of the ICU. Dr. Angelique Campen, an ER Doctor at Providence Saint Joseph in Burbank, told L.A. Morning News that James getting out of the ICU is ‘an excellent sign.’
“…there’s really only two paths to go on this - you get resuscitated, quickly, get the heart going again and that saves the rest of your organs, most importantly, your brain and you wake up right away and continue on with a normal life or you've suffered damage,” she said. “And so the fact that he is stabilized and out of the ICU is a really good sign.”
She noted that although it is “a very unusual and rare occurrence” for a young healthy person to go into ER for cardiac; however when it happens, there are a few things doctors will consider.
“One is a congenital issue, something you're born with an issue in the heart that can cause it to kind of block the outflow of blood and stop, and these are things that are often found and by a doctor, which is why your kids will need clearance for like a sports physical,” she said.
“The other thing is acquired problems like electrolyte abnormalities. If your potassium in your blood gets too low, it can cause arrhythmias in your heart. And then finally, the third thing that we know about are things that we put in our body that can make us stop breathing or our heart stop. Very unusual to have been using something like that while you're practicing, but still something to think about.”
She said doctors get clues as to what’s going on as they do an ultrasound on the heart as the person is being resuscitated.
“It also gives us a lot of clues of what's going on (with) the heart rhythm that the patient has when they come in,” she said, adding that the patient will be treated based on the findings from the ultrasound.”
In their statement, the James family thanked the “USC medical and athletic staff for their incredible work and dedication to the safety of their athletes.”
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