(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . What is “Commotio Cordis?” Prayers for Damar Hamlin. [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-01-03 Bills teammates react to Damar Hamlin injury When I was a kid playing football many years ago, a running back from the opposing team took a blow to the chest, got up to jog back to the huddle and collapsed after two steps. Fortunately, one of the officials on the field was an EMT who began chest compressions immediately before the kid was taken to the hospital. Fortunately he survived, and we found out later his heart had fibrillated as a result of that blow. It was a freak accident of timing called Commotio Cordis, and as I watched with horror as Damar Hamlin collapsed during MNF last night, those memories came flooding back. It looked exactly like that. We don’t yet know if that is what happened to Hamlin last night, and I pray for him and his family and teammates that he fully recovers thanks to the quick response of the on-field medics. My suspicion, however, is Commotio Cordis, a rare accident of timing that causes ventricular fibrillation. From the NHS website: “Commotio cordis is ventricular fibrillation precipitated by blunt trauma to the heart, not attributable to structural damage to the heart or surrounding structures. Its Latin etymology, “agitation of the heart,” describes the suspected mechanism whereby significant distortion of the myocardium creates enough mechanical energy to cause inappropriate depolarization, resulting in an unstable dysrhythmia.” Commotio Cordis is exceedingly rare, occurring about 30 times a year, mostly in young men playing contact sports (it’s more common in baseball than football or other sports because of the sharp, sudden impact caused by a fast traveling baseball to the chest). Survival rates are over 50% with quick medical attention. I sincerely hope Mr. Hamlin recovers quickly from this incident. My thoughts are with him and his family tonight. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/3/2145080/-What-is-Commotio-Cordis-Prayers-for-Damar-Hamlin Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/