LaMarcus Aldridge diagnosed with heart disorder

A press release has come through from the Portland Trail Blazers regarding LaMarcus Aldridge's sudden dizziness and resulting break from play:

Forward LaMarcus Aldridge underwent a series of tests today at Providence St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Portland. He was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome (WPW) and was treated for the condition by Dr. Daniel Oseran at St. Vincent’s. The procedure was successful.

Aldridge will be monitored by a cardiologist and will miss the remainder of the season. He is expected to make a full recovery and be cleared to resume physical activity, including basketball, in the near future.

Aldridge, complaining of dizziness, left Portland’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers at the Rose Garden on March 31 and has been sidelined since that time.

Wikipedia defines WPW as follows:

Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (WPW) is a syndrome of pre-excitation of the ventricles of the heart due to an accessory pathway known as the Bundle of Kent. This accessory pathway is an abnormal electrical communication from the atria to the ventricles.

The incidence of WPW syndrome is between 0.1 and 3% of the general population. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

While the vast majority of individuals with WPW syndrome remain asymptomatic throughout their entire lives, there is a risk of sudden death associated with the syndrome. Sudden death due to WPW syndrome is rare (incidence of ≤0.6%^{[3] [4]}), and is due to the effect of the accessory pathway on tachyarrhythmias in these individuals.

The guys at Oregon Live have been doing a bit of research on this as well.

Basically, all signals point towards the fact that LaMarcus should be fine to resume play next season and that he was very fortunate to have been diagnosed and treated when he was, as the condition can be fatal.

We wish LaMarcus all the best, not only for his return to basketball, but more importantly for his good health. Get better big fella.