Sport
Update: No change in Fabrice Muamba’s condition
Muamba collapsed in the 41st minute of the FA Cup match at White Hart Lane, and paramedics immediately began trying to revive him near the halfway line.
“Fabrice received prolonged resuscitation at the ground and on route to the London Chest Hospital, where his heart eventually started working,” Bolton said in a joint statement with the hospital on Sunday morning. “As is normal medical practice, Fabrice remains anesthetized in intensive care and will be for at least 24 hours.”
That rapid treatment was available for Muamba at White Hart Lane was the result of changes brought in following a serious head injury to Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech in 2006, with paramedics and an ambulance now on hand at matches.
But uncertainty lingered on Sunday about the causes of the cardiac arrest for Muamba, who was described by former Birmingham manager Steve Bruce as “one of the fittest players I have managed.”
The Professional Footballers’ Association said there are annual heart screenings for players.
“While we have been able to pick up quite a number of heart defects and then been able to put them right, it is not always possible,” PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor told The Associated Press. “This sometimes happens to young men and women who would be the last people you would think about having such a defect, and then suddenly it is found out.”
Dr. Graham Stuart, a Football Association-accredited cardiologist, said detecting heart defects can be problematic.
