Team Katusha’s Kim Kirchen is said to be in a stable condition in hospital after suffering a suspected heart attack on Friday evening after completing Stage 7 of the Tour of Switzerland.
The rider, from Luxembourg, finished in seventh place overall in the Tour de France in both 2007 and 2008, and in the latter year wore the race leader’s yellow jersey for four consecutive stages.
According to a statement on the Team Katusha website, “based on the tests done until now, it is possible to exclude both a infarctus or a thrombosis. The statement added that the 31-year-old, who who in 2008 won La Flèche Wallonne, would “remain in this state during at least the next 24 hours. Further communications will follow as soon as possible.”
1 thought on “Kim Kirchen said to be “stable” following suspected heart attack”
It is highly unlikely that he
It is highly unlikely that he had a myocardial infarction which is a thrombus (clot) in the coronary arteries considering his young age and good health. Rather he had “cardiac arrest” which is a heart rhythm abnormality due to rapid racing so fast the heart cannot pump. The most common causes of cardiac arrest in young adult athletes are: 1) hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (congenital thickening of the heart muscle wall with fibers failing to align with each other (myofibrillar disarray), 2) Wolff-Parkinson-White preexcitation syndrome (an accessory electrical connection between the upper and lower chambers of the heart causing heart racing), or 3) congenital abnormalities of the coronary arteries (unlikely because his problem occurred while at rest. The critical thing was that he can recover from the moments with low blood flow. Let’s pray for his full recovery. If it is the accessory electrical connection his problem can be easily fixed and he can ride again. The other choices are less likely reparable.
Our lover and prayers go out to Kim and his family.