Dantonio Stable After Heart-Related Matter

Submitted by jokenjin on

Per one of my friends at MSU who has ties to the athletic department, and let me quality first by saying:

THIS IS JUST A RUMOR

Apparently, Mark Dantonio suffered a heart attack and there will be a 1 pm EST press conference about it. He heard it from Fox Sports News reporter Jennifer Hammond but can't get anyone actually in the department to verify anything.

Granted, we had that same hoax when some sideline reporter said that Tate was transferring, so take this with a HUGE grain of salt.

[Mod edit: AP reports the same]

aaamichfan

September 19th, 2010 at 12:08 PM ^

The last person who posted a rumor from someone with "ties to an athletic department" said that Rich Rodriguez had accepted the HC position at Tennessee. We should just avoid this type of nonsense here.

jokenjin

September 19th, 2010 at 12:10 PM ^

I am also hearing that he is stable and doing fine. Hope he is well.

I'm not sure anyone's heart could have handled the ballsy call of Little Giants. Amazing play call.

CollegeFootball13

September 19th, 2010 at 12:18 PM ^

If he's now stable, this shouldn't affect coaching or anything for Sparty, should it? Will he be back on the sidelines on Saturday?

I don't know the recovery times of heart attacks so any information is appreciated.

Njia

September 19th, 2010 at 12:22 PM ^

Heart attacks are very serious. My father has had one, and even with modern medical practice, equipment and drugs, there will be no simple, "turning him loose."

I suspect that there will be several days of medical evaluations, followed - perhaps - by a procedure (bypass, stent, etc.) of some kind.

No way he'll be on the sidelines on Saturday. Maybe several weeks before he's even back at work.

Frank Drebin

September 19th, 2010 at 12:57 PM ^

Dr. Chris D'Haem, DO, an interventional cardiologist with Thoracic and Cardiovascular Institute (TCI) and Sparrow, performed a cardiac catheterization procedure on Dantonio. This "relatively common" procedure used a small, metallic stent to open a blocked blood vessel leading to the heart.

"The procedure was successful and blood flow to the heart muscle was restored," Dr. D'Haem said. "I'm very pleased with the outcome of the procedure. Coach Dantonio is resting comfortably following his procedure and is expected to make a full recovery.

maizedandconfused

September 19th, 2010 at 12:27 PM ^

Following a heart attack there are numerous outcomes, all varying in degree.

First and foremost, it depends on the type of attack, whether it was an emboli or was a myocardial infarction (difference is, one causes degenerative muscle damage in the heart due to lack of oxygen from coronary arteries (MI), while another occludes blood flow mostly to peripheral tissue ). Similiarly, some people have what is referred to as "pericardial pressure" basically, the fluid around the heart builds up in a non-expanding region around the heart, and the pain is referred and felt as a heart attack. This situation is resolvable using needle aspiration, however there is potential damage to myocardium (heart muscle tissue)

Prognosis for long-term care is varying, and most likely won't be addressed until further testing via EKG, ECG and potentially exploratory surgery via catheterization. Knowing the cause will give the effect, and will shape treatment.

I highly doubt that Dantonio will be on the sidelines for Saturday, as the last thing he needs is any elevated blood pressure or increased heart rate to increase strain on an already weakened cardiovascular system. Im guessing the earliest his attending will release him to coach again is a month, and more than likely 6 months. The heart is essentially a giant muscle, and what it needs in response to damaging events is time to remodel and repair. Again, this is all speculation, and its possible he just had a severe panic attack attributed to heart attacks, and he could be back Saturday.

dearbornpeds

September 19th, 2010 at 2:57 PM ^

your post indicates very little medical knowledge.  it's one thing to offer opinions on football where we are all amateurs but to comment on a medical condition and incorrectly use terms and explanations is really inappropriate.

 

football and loyalties aside, i think we can agree that all true wolverine fans wish a complete and speedy recovery for one of our opponents.

maizedandconfused

September 19th, 2010 at 9:13 PM ^

What exactly in my post shows "little medical knowledge"?

just to clarify,

EKG:  electro cardiogram. essentially, differential leads attached to the chest can measure the nerve impulse to the different regions of the heart, basically checking to see if tissue is still contracting at the arrival of a contraction impulse

 

ECG: echocardiogram. In basic terms, its essentially a sonogram of the heart, basically giving the general structure/integrity of the heart.

Catheterization: cardiac cath is essentially a long lead inserted through the femoral artery into the aorta and into the coronary arteries.. essentially checks for blockage of said coronary arteries (which is the sole blood supply to the myocardium of the heart

dearbornpeds

September 19th, 2010 at 10:51 PM ^

1.  All heart attacks are myocardial infarctions.  "Heart attack" is the lay term so when you state it depends on whether it was an emboli or a myocardial infarction, it demonstrates lack of understanding.  There are different precipitating events but these are not different types of heart attacks.

 

2..ECG and EKG are both abbreviations for an electrocardiagram.  If you want to reference an echocardiogram without using the entire word, the correct abbreviation is ECHO.

 

3. Cardiac catheterization is not exploratory surgery and is often performed on an outpatient basis.

 

4..The original post linked to a column stating Dantonio had a stent placed.  Therefore he couldn't have possibly had a pericardial effusion or "pericardial pressure" as you referenced.

maizedandconfused

September 20th, 2010 at 12:05 AM ^

1, Fine, but this is essentially semantics. Not a lack of understanding, just trying to explain the differnet scenarios that can cause a heart attack. And not all heart attacks are M.I.s (idiopathic coronary spasm).

2. Really... I realized my mistake (blame it on the long night.. but hey I'm on vacation) hence the elaboration. Maybe posting "ECG is really ECHO which is..." would better serve the board instead of accusing me of not knowing what I'm talking about using denigrating generalizations and terrible grammer.

3. Last I checked, outpatient still had the succeeding "surgery" after it.

4. Check your times. The stent article wasn't posted yet when I quickly wrote my response. Pericardial effusion is a possiblity, and if you can legitimately tell me that most people would understand pericardial effusion without an indepth explanation, you are ridiculous. I avoided the correct terminology to save myself the effort and to not look like a pompous jackass.

 

I wrote this quickly to give people a potential understanding of cause and effect, with potential outcomes on basically no information from the newspapers. Say what you want, my original post was on point, and I tried to write in laymans terms. I'm sorry you woke up this morning hating your life, while I woke up hungover and loving ,mine. Gotta love vacation. Hail. 3-0.

Wendyk5

September 19th, 2010 at 12:28 PM ^

It depends what caused it. Could be a minor blockage and a stent will be put in, could be major blockage and bypass surgery is needed. Could be anything in between. They'll probably have to do some sort of exploratory procedure to find out if there's any damage to the heart, too. My mother-in-law had a heart attack last week, so we just went through this. And my father has had two and open heart surgery. It's a major deal. 

Frank Drebin

September 19th, 2010 at 12:53 PM ^

This from the article on MSU's atletic site:

Dantonio will remain at Sparrow Hospital for a few days for monitoring. His return to the sidelines will be determined at a later date.

During Dantonio's recovery, offensive coordinator Don Treadwell will manage the day-to-day responsibilities of the head coach.

"Mark Dantonio is our head coach," MSU Athletics Director Mark Hollis said. "Throughout his recovery process, offensive coordinator Don Treadwell will assume the day-to-day responsibilities of the head coach.

Wendyk5

September 19th, 2010 at 12:32 PM ^

There's nothing in the Lansing Journal online edition about this. If there's a press conference in 30 minutes, wouldn't you think there'd be something in the town paper?

ATrain32

September 19th, 2010 at 12:46 PM ^

While I am no fan of MSU or MD, my heart goes out to everyone in their community, his family and him.  They had an exhilirating win last night and he should have been able to enjoy it and celebrate the victory over ND before getting back to work for week 4.  It's sad news to hear.

I will definitely have Dantonio in my thoughts and prayers.  It's a major market correction in my thinking about the week 3 outcomes.  The concerns about our special teams and D, while trying to enjoy the sugar plums of 3-0 had been roaming around my head, but now I am thinking that this game is really about the people and it stinks that he has suffered this setback.  Even though, Dantonio is on the 'other side', I hope he has a speedy recovery.  God bless Dantonio and his family.

NateVolk

September 19th, 2010 at 12:59 PM ^

The Freep is reporting that he had emergency surgery. No word as to what kind. A stint is different than like open heart. Press conference is coming here shortly.

These coaches work too hard.

Rodriguez said a few weeks ago that he'd top out at 5 hours sleep for his time at U of M.  Not healthy.

Hope Mark is ok and recovers fully.

ebbtide

September 19th, 2010 at 1:03 PM ^

All bs aside, I hope he makes a full and speedy recovery.

 

And good on the Mgoblog community for being very classy.  Football is second to a man's personal health. 

Michichick

September 19th, 2010 at 1:19 PM ^

Bo couldn't coach in his first Rose Bowl because of a heart attack. Imagine if he had thrown in the towel then!  He suffered terrible heart problems his whole life, but coached 20 more years after that. No reason Dantonio can't do the same, especially with the advancements in modern medicine.