As most of you know now Utah Utes Football All-American Star Lotulelei is out of the NFL combine because of a heart condition discovered on a heart echo. Specifically here is what Chris Mortensen said…
Lotulelei's left ventricle is pumping at 44 percent efficiency - normal range is 55-70 percent. He will undergo more tests in Salt Lake City
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) February 24, 2013
To give you an idea what this means, what Mortensen is referring to is the ejection fraction. It means that each pump of Star’s heart pumps out 44 percent of the total volume of blood in the heart. As Mortensen said in his tweet, 55-70 percent is the normal range and below 40 percent is cardiomyopathy or heart failure.
This would seem to indicate a serious problem but other important factors include if he is symptomatic, such as being light headed or shortness of breath.
It’s clear that there might be a serious issue here. Let’s all hope for the best and that the tests check out for Star. If you’re interested in reading a little more on this here are a couple of links or email me some questions as my wife is in the medical field and has a way of explaining it so that my little brain can understand. Unless of course you have a cardiologist hanging around.