Myocarditis; The real issue at heart regarding college football

More often than not in college sports, we see a less superior team triumph over the prohibitive favorite — and a lot of those reasons as to why that happened has to do with heart.

We see it in college sports all the time where the team with the most heart, whether on the field or in the weight room, some how pulls out the underdog victory. The stories of sports history are filled with sentiments like this, and have become so real to us all that it inspires to have just a little bit more heart in our lives.

That's what makes the state of the upcoming college football season so ironic is that while heart may be the driving force behind the greatest stories of the sport, the heart may actually be what cancels the upcoming season.

According to medical professionals, myocarditis is a potential longterm effect from contracting COVID-19. The American Heart Association describes myocarditis as it "comes on suddenly and often with significant severity, resulting in an exceptionally high risk of death caused by cardiogenic shock (the heart's inability to pump enough blood), fatal arrhythmias (abnormal heartbeats) and multiorgan failure."

In a recent Sports Illustrated article featuring Dr. Michael Martinez, he describes the effects of myocarditis and the issues at heart, literally.

"He knows what a strong, healthy heart looks like. He knows what a poor, struggling heart looks like. And he knows what a heart looks like after COVID-19’s tentacles have reached the most vital organ in the human body. “This virus,” he says, “seems to have an affinity for causing damage to the heart.”

In a small percentage of infected patients, COVID-19 leaves behind troubling scars in the throbbing muscle within their chests, known as myocarditis. The virus directly invades the heart muscle, weakening and damaging its cells, through blood clots and inflammatory responses to viral infection. Earlier during the pandemic, doctors only associated the condition with severe and, oftentimes, hospitalized COVID victims, usually elderly patients or those with underlying health problems."

The Pac-12 CEO group, which consists of 12 presidents or chancellors representing each university, is meeting Tuesday night to be briefed about the growing concern regarding myocarditis.

While the Pac-12 is just now being briefed on the matter, the Big Ten is already well aware of myocarditis after diagnosing five of its athletes.

Because COVID-19 is such a new virus and having never been dealt with prior, doctors and other health experts can't predict what the long-term effects are going to be for people who have contracted the virus. It's reasonable to suggest that the long-term effects will be different per person, as the virus has shown to be different per case.

There is research being done that suggests that COVID-19 can cause heart inflammation. According to studies done by the Mayo Clinic, “severe myocarditis weakens your heart so that the rest of your body doesn’t get enough blood. Clots can form in your heart, leading to a stroke or heart attack.”

Utah Utes team doctor David Petron, a member of the Pac-12 Student-Athlete Health and Well-Being Board, was interviewed on ESPN 700 in Salt Lake City on Monday evening and expressed his concern regarding playing college football this fall.

During the interview, Petron said that a document outlining the possible methods moving forward was presented to Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott, and will now be shared with the CEO group Tuesday night.

"The recommendation will be stop contact and competitive activities at this time and the document will outline criteria that is needed to move forward with competition," Petron told host Spence Checketts.

The biggest takeaway from Petron's interview was that he didn't outright dismiss the idea of playing college football this fall, still leaving the option open.

But in order to do so, there needs to be much more frequent testing that are in line with the hotspots throughout the nation. For instance, Pullman, Washington in Washington State has barely been hit so weekly testing would be most appropriate. Likewise, Los Angeles where UCLA and USC are located are hotspots and needed to be treated as thus with daily testing.

Petron also said that while daily testing isn't an option at this point, a point-of-care test would serve its purpose and potentially allow for a college football season. He also noted that with the issues of myocarditis potentially being a threat, cardiac evaluations must be done as well.

According to Martinez...

"He acknowledges that the cases in athletes with COVID-related heart impacts are very small. Among professional, college and youth league athletes, he’s seen no more than a dozen in the US. However, there are likely many more. Some go undetected or have not been brought to his attention. Doctors aren’t exactly sure how common the condition is. Some have publicly stated that recovered COVID-19 patients have shown as much as a 50% impact on their heart, but with striking degrees in severity.

In the end, there is a massive risk to potentially contracting COVID-19, especially if it leads to a diagnose of myocarditis. While it's not a guarantee, it comes down to whether or not players, coaches and college football officials are willing to take on that risk."

In a story written by ESPN, numerous colleges throughout the nation are now implementing cardiac tests for any player who has tested positive. Anybody who is then diagnosed with myocarditis is recommended to not exercise or train for the next three to six months, all but effectively ending any hope of them playing college football this season.

Want to share opinions or ask questions? We want to hear them! Making a profile is free and it only takes ~1 minute to set up. Also, be sure to like us on social media for future coverage:

Twitter — @UtahUtes_SI and Ryan Kostecka at @Ryan_Kostecka

Add us as a preferred source on Google