The Nottinghamshire and England cricketer James Taylor has been forced to retire at 26 as a result of being diagnosed with a heart condition that bears the risk of sudden cardiac arrest. The condition ARVC (arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy) is outlined below.
• It is a rare disease of the heart muscle, one of five different forms of cardiomyopathy.
• ARVC is inherited, caused by a mutation in one or more genes.
• It happens when some of the heart muscle (in the right ventricle) is replaced by fibrous tissue and fat. The ventricle becomes thin and stretched, meaning the heart does not pump blood around your body properly.
• Most people are not diagnosed until later in life as the disease gets worse over time.
• The condition is similar to that diagnosed in the former Bolton Wanderers footballer Fabrice Muamba, who suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch in an FA Cup tie at Tottenham in 2012.
• Symptoms include abnormal heart rhythms, breathlessness, fainting, swollen legs/ankles, swelling in the abdomen. It all bears the risk of sudden cardiac arrest on exertion. This can be precipitated by the onset of dizzy spells, palpitations or blackouts.
•The more common cause of cardiac arrest in young people/sportsmen and women is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM, also known as hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy). In HCM, the heart muscle becomes too thick, which encourages abnormal heart rhythms. While inherited it can be made worse by the training of an athlete, which causes the heart muscle to thicken.
• Neither ARVC or HCM are common. In the UK it is estimated that 10,000 people have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
• ARVC can be controlled by medicine or surgery but not cured. Treatments include cardioversion (electrical treatment of abnormal heart rhythm) or catheter ablation (wires guided into the heart where radiofrequency energy produces heat to remove damaged heart tissue). Some people have to have an ICD fitted. An implantable cardioverter is a battery-powered device under the skin that tracks heart rate and delivers an electric shock to restore a normal heartbeat if it detects an abnormal rhythm.
Sources: nhs.co.uk, bhf.org.uk
