Combine medical test reveals Star Lotulelei has heart condition

Posted by Michael David Smith on February 24, 2013, 5:39 PM EST
AP

Star Lotulelei, a defensive tackle from Utah who is widely viewed as one of the best players in this year’s draft, was found to have a heart condition when examined at the Scouting Combine.

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports that Lotulelei’s left ventricle is pumping at 44 percent efficiency, below the normal range of 55 percent to 70 percent. As a result, Lotulelei will leave Indianapolis without going through any workouts.

Lotulelei’s condition was discovered via an echocardiogram conducted as part of the normal Combine medical evaluation. He will now return home to Utah to undergo more tests.

ESPN’s Scouts, Inc. ranks Lotulelei as the No. 1 overall player in this year’s draft, at any position. NFL Network’s Mike Mayock calls Lotulelei the second-best defensive tackle in the draft.

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29 responses to “Combine medical test reveals Star Lotulelei has heart condition”

  4. what he needs is nutrition. Particularly an overload of saturated animal fat, which has never proven to be a negative factor in disease of any kind. He also needs to overload on mineral supplementation. Then again all athletes do because DEAD ATHLETES DONT LIE

  6. He should reture. he’s an ESPN Outside the Lines/30 for 30/E:60 /HBO Real Sports/Lawsuit vs NFL waiting to happen

  8. It’s very possible Deacon Jones had that medical condition, too. However, we never knew anything more than the medical questionnaire the player filked out or what the doctor could hear through a stethoscope….in the 70’s and prior.

  9. Good thing they found it now, would hate to see another event like what happened in Michigan a couple years ago with the high school basketball player.

  11. If its serious he might never play again. Which may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. The New York Rangers drafted a kid in the first round who died on the ice, it was later discovered he had a heart condition and shouldnt have been playing. Brett Maclean, a Coyotes draft pick went into cardiac arrest on the ice over the summer. He only lived because a defibrillator was at the rink and an off duty paramedic was there. Again, heart condition and shouldnt have been playing.

  13. Part of me feels bad for him, but part of me thinks he should be grateful that he found out sooner rather than later

  14. We will see the type of heart the kid really has now. I expect him to have long, healthy and great career. It’s best to find stuff like this out now instead of training camp like we saw with Mike Patterson’s brain issue recently.

  16. They’ll get him figured out. It’s the reason they do all of this testing. These guys are investments.

    The human body is beyond amazing. While the left ventricle is pumping at a reduced capacity, other parts pick up the slack, to some extent.

    I don’t think this will derail his career.

  17. Wow. Between Star and Jone’s medical conditions (not to mention some other injured prospects like Barkley and Milliner, no consensus elite players and one year wonders like Ansah) ought to make this draft really interesting.

    Can’t we transplant Albert Haynesworth’s ventricle to Star or something?

  19. Terrible. Doctors should be able to get him healthy again with a slightly invasive surgery, medication and a special diet. I don’t expect him to play this year though. If he stays in the draft, he’ll get picked up, but probably won’t actually sign until he is ready to play again. Otherwise, he can hold out and join next seasons draft. He won’t go in the first round if he waits until next years draft, but I bet he will still be around rounds 2-3. Whoever picks him up will probably get an even better player when he gets better. If he plays that well with a 44% pumping efficiency, imagine how well he’d play with 90%+??? Probably make Suh look like a girl scout. Anyway, good luck to him!

  20. yeah you guys are all dead on. the doctors are going to fix him right up just like all those other athletes whose careers ended because doctors couldnt fix them

  21. I can’t understand why the agents of top players don’t have those guys fully evaluated. If they would have been found out about this, they may have been able to treat it before the combine. I hope this young man will be able to continue his career, he is a great player.

  26. I really thought there was a strong possibility that he might go to Oakland at #3. As soon as I read this article, it brought to mind another young defensive tackle who was drafted by the Raiders at the end of the first-round years ago.
    Leon Bender died before he made it to OTA’s in his rookie season. It was a terrible tragedy for that young man, his family, and the Raiders. I have wondered from time to time if there were some tests which could’ve been performed on him during the scouting process which could have detected his ailment.
    I hope Star is okay.

  27. Wow, I’m glad that we’ve had such noted cardiologists as trevor123698 and EJ stop by and give us the benefit of their extensive medical backgrounds.

    Personally, I passed several stress tests, echocardiograms, and CT scans as well, but an angiogram prompted by a heart attack revealed a blockage of 99% in one of the principle cardiac blood vessels. BTW, my heart had shown to be working at 55% capacity and I had blood pressure of 110 over 65 with a total cholesteral of around 150. Not exactly the kind of numbers that one associates with a heart attack. Rest assured that a triple bypass is not a “slightly invasive” procedure.

    Hope the guy gets well and never forget that the number one symptom of heart disease is sudden death.

  29. Is this a heart condition where there isn’t enough blood getting to the heart or anything? Not a doctor. I was wondering if it had to do with the plaque stuff in your right or left artery in your neck which you can have a operation on To clean it out. My dad had 90% blocked off on one side that they has to go in and unblock. They said the left ventricle is pumping at 44 percent efficiency, below the normal range of 55 percent to 70 percent so it made me think there might be a blockage? Like I said far from a doc but Hopefully he can have a operation even if it isn’t quite like what my dad had.

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