Full Court Shock: Teen’s Basketball Game Turns into a Life-Threatening Ordeal Due to Hidden Heart Condition

An 18-year-old boy suffered a stroke after playing basketball. The culprit turned out to be a hole in his heart.

Xiao Tan is 18 years old and from Lishui. He just became a freshman not long ago. If it weren’t for a coincidence more than two months ago, he would never have thought that he would be related to cerebral infarction at such a young age.

One afternoon in early July, Xiao Tan played a mobile game on the sofa for a while and felt a little dizzy. He thought it was because he hadn’t eaten lunch, so he grabbed some snacks and ate them. After a while, the dizziness gradually eased. Around 6 pm, when the sun was not so strong, he made an appointment with a few friends to go to the court to play ball.

“After about 10 minutes of playing, I started to feel dizzy and had a headache again. I thought I had heatstroke, so I stopped and bought a bottle of water. Later, because my headache was really severe, I went home.” Xiao Tan said that after returning home, he went straight to bed, and after daybreak, his headache was gone.

When Xiao Tan’s mother learned about this, she decided to take her son to the hospital for a checkup. “It’s not just for this headache, but he had anemia before. I had planned to take him for a comprehensive checkup after the college entrance exam. If there are any problems, I would take the summer vacation to solve them so that he can go to college in good health.”

Because of the headache, Xiao Tan had a brain MRI, and surprisingly found a tiny cerebral infarction. “Cerebral infarction? He is only 18 years old! How could he have a cerebral infarction?” Xiao Tan’s mother was shocked and anxious. Xiao Tan was admitted to the hospital, and the doctor prepared to do a systematic examination on him to determine the cause of the cerebral infarction.

The next day, Professor Zhang Xingwei, President of the Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University and chief physician of the Department of Cardiology, and Chief Physician Luo Yanhong, director of the hospital’s Cardiac Ultrasound Diagnostic Center, happened to be in the countryside to provide free medical treatment at the hospital where Xiao Tan worked. When they heard about his story, the two of them held a consultation for him.

“The young man is only 18 years old. He is so young and has no underlying diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. The probability of cerebrovascular disease is low, so cardiac factors need to be ruled out.” Professor Zhang Xingwei said that after inquiring about his medical history, Xiao Tan had no special symptoms before. Therefore, on the basis of routine examinations such as electrocardiogram and cardiac B-ultrasound, a bubble test was also arranged for him to determine whether there is a problem with patent foramen ovale.

Professor Zhang Xingwei explained that the foramen ovale is a channel for the fetus to obtain oxygen from the mother’s blood circulation through the placenta in the uterus. From the first cry of infancy, the foramen ovale functionally closes in most people within one year after birth. If the foramen ovale cannot close after the age of 3, it is called patent foramen ovale.

“The unclosed foramen ovale forms a channel between the left and right atria. When the pressure in the right atrium increases instantly, such as when coughing, laughing, or sneezing, the blood in the right atrium will flow into the left atrium. The bioactive substances that have not been filtered by the pulmonary circulation directly enter the cerebral blood vessels, which may induce a migraine attack. If there are blood clots in the blood, there is even a risk of stroke. Xiao Tan is very likely to be in this situation.”

Director Luo Yanhong performed a foaming test on Xiao Tan, and just as Professor Zhang Xingwei expected, there was indeed a “hole” in his heart – patent foramen ovale!

“Fortunately, his cerebral infarction lesion was very small and did not cause obvious symptoms, so no special treatment was needed. If it was a larger cerebral infarction lesion, it might cause hemiplegia of the limbs, aphasia, etc.” As for whether playing basketball was related to the occurrence of this problem, Professor Zhang Xingwei said that generally speaking there was not much connection, it just happened that he played basketball before and after the onset of the disease.

Among adults, the incidence of patent foramen ovale is 20%-25%, which means that about one in four people has a patent foramen ovale. If there are no special symptoms, no treatment is needed, and some people may never know that they have a patent foramen ovale.

Since Xiao Tan had already suffered a cerebral infarction, in order to avoid another cerebral infarction and its serious consequences in the future, the situation was strictly assessed and the surgical indications were comprehensively grasped. Xiao Tan was transferred to the Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, where Professor Zhang Xingwei performed foramen ovale occlusion on him.

“Under normal circumstances, routine check-ups are required one month, three months, six months and one year after the operation. Judging from the patient’s most recent follow-up, he has recovered well.” Professor Zhang Xingwei said that cerebral infarction caused by patent foramen ovale is relatively rare, but migraine is relatively common. If there are long-term severe migraines of unknown cause, after excluding various factors that may induce migraines, such as sinusitis and glaucoma, the patent foramen ovale can be checked.

Source: Metropolis Express Author: Reporter Zhang Huili Correspondent Zhu Yunxi Editor: Gao Tingting