Heart study aims to identify, reduce cardiac risks for NBA players

The incidence of sudden cardiac death is higher in American basketball players than in other athlete groups, according to a JAMA Cardiology study published Wednesday.

The study, based on echocardiograms of 526 NBA players recorded during the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 seasons, was performed by the Columbia University Medical Center and sanctioned by the NBA, with the aim of performing "a comprehensive cardiac structural analysis of National Basketball Association professional athletes."

The study's researchers believe the data will help understand, identify, and ultimately reduce the risk of life-threatening heart problems in pro basketball players - an issue that's been thrust under the microscope in recent months with the heart-related deaths of former players like Moses Malone, Darryl Dawkins, and Anthony Mason before the age of 60.

"We've been able to characterize the athlete's heart in basketball players," cardiologist Dr. David J. Engel, the study's lead author, told USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt. "This is the first time this has ever been done so the information that we've gathered will serve as a frame of reference for any health-care provider who takes care of basketball players at all skill levels and also for the athletic community in general."

The study specifically cited an enlarged aortic root as an indicator of increased risk of sudden cardiac death. Anecdotal evidence has long suggested that larger players are more susceptible to such risks.

"You don't see many 7-footers walking around at the age of 75," said 59-year-old retiree Larry Bird - who has a history of heart problems - earlier this month. "I know there are a few of us who live a long time, but most of us big guys don't seem to last too long."

For the study, doctors created a standardized testing protocol to account for the abnormal physical dimensions of pro basketball players, thus providing "normative cardiac data for a group of athletes with greater anthropometry than any previously studied athlete group and for a group known to have elevated rates of sudden cardiac death."

Said Engel: "We've established what normal values should be for every cardiac dimension based on height and body surface area and we can define what normal changes are for elite U.S. athletes. ...

"This is important for health-care providers who evaluate U.S. athletes because the hearts are different in terms of weight and geometry."

The National Basketball Players' Association decided in July to set aside an allotment of money to put toward a health care plan for retired players. In December, the NBPA hosted its first round of screenings as part of a new program to monitor potential heart problems in retirees.