Bronny James Hospitalized After Sudden Cardiac Arrest: Here's ...

Cardiac arrest can happen suddenly, without warning, even in young people who seem perfectly healthy. That’s exactly what appears to be the case with LeBron James’s 18-year-old son, LeBron “Bronny” James Jr., who was rushed to the hospital after collapsing during basketball practice at the University of Southern California on Monday.

“While practicing Bronny James suffered a cardiac arrest. Medical staff was able to treat Bronny and take him to the hospital. He is now in stable condition and no longer in ICU,” a family spokesman said in a statement reported by CNN on Tuesday.

Cardiac arrest is when the heart stops beating. Nine in 10 people who have cardiac arrest anywhere but in a hospital die, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Immediate cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to restart the heart dramatically increases survival odds, and when people aren’t in a hospital, every moment they wait for an ambulance without getting CPR brings death closer, according to the American Heart Association.

Youth improves the survival odds, in part because more blood and oxygen reaches the brain after cardiac arrest in young people with healthier blood vessels than in older adults who are more prone to hardening and stiffening in the arteries, says Scott Jerome, DO, the director of sports cardiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore.

With prompt treatment, a young, healthy person also has a lower risk of brain damage, Dr. Jerome says. But without rapid treatment, cardiac arrest is fatal. “Each second without treatment worsens the prognosis,” Jerome says.

In people older than 35, cardiac arrest is often caused by coronary artery disease, or accumulation of plaque in blood vessels that makes them harder, stiffer, and less able to transport oxygen through the body over time, says Eugene Chung, MD, MPH, a professor and the director of the sports cardiology clinic at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

It’s a different story for younger people, because coronary artery disease is much less likely to play a role, Dr. Chung says. Instead, likely causes include inherited heart rhythm disorders, structural defects in the heart muscle or coronary arteries, injury to the chest, or misuse of certain recreational drugs or stimulants, Chung says.

The weather may also play a role, especially for college athletes who are practicing outdoors this summer. That’s because extreme heat or dehydration can increase the risk of sudden cardiac arrest, says Nahush Mokadam, MD, a professor and the director of cardiac surgery at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus.

Bronny James’s sudden collapse recalls the case of the Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who experienced sudden cardiac arrest during a Monday Night Football game in January. While both athletes are Black, their race isn’t a cause of sudden cardiac arrest, says Benjamin Levine, MD, a sports cardiologist and a professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

“Moreover, Black athletes do not have a greater incidence of inherited diseases that are known to cause sudden cardiac arrest in athletes,” Dr. Levine adds. “So we must be very careful not to push this line of thought, or stigmatize Black athletes for different or special screening.”

When they do experience these events, however, Black athletes might have worse survival odds. A study of sudden cardiac arrest deaths among National College Athletic Association (NCAA) athletes found the risk is higher for males, Black athletes, and basketball players.

Still, athletes often fare better than other people who go into cardiac arrest outside the hospital, because there are usually athletic trainers and medical professionals on the sidelines at games and practices, says Dr. Mokadam. They also get sports physicals before training, and this may identify health issues that need to be addressed.

Athletes can’t prevent cardiac arrest when the cause is an underlying heart issue, but they can take steps to protect themselves, including taking time to get acclimated to exercise in the heat, Jerome says.

“Some commonsense stuff is to ensure you are hydrated and be careful in the heat,” Jerome says. “The most important thing is to make sure you are screened by a doctor before you begin the training.”