NPR by Joe Neel
The sudden death of several prominent young athletes has drawn attention to the problem of silent heart disease. Studies are under way to determine who is at risk.
The problem of undetected heart disease in young athletes came to prominence in 1990 with the death of Hank Gathers, 23, then an All-American basketball star at Loyola Marymount University. He collapsed on the court during a game with the University of California, Santa Barbara, and died shortly thereafter. He had been treated for an abnormal heartbeat, but after his death, a medical examiner found that he had suffered from cardiomyopathy, an enlarged heart.
