Bronny James, Son of NBA Star LeBron James, Stabilized After Cardiac Arrest

Bronny James, a University of Southern California (USC) freshman and son of NBA star LeBron James, reportedly had a cardiac arrest on Monday morning while training with his basketball team, but has since been stabilized.

The athlete lost consciousness and was transported to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reported. The 18-year-old was briefly in the intensive care unit (ICU) and was in stable condition by Tuesday morning, according to a statement from a spokesperson for the James family.

The American Heart Association (AHA) said in its own statement that an on-site medical team had responded quickly and immediately started CPR and provided early defibrillation.

“Recognizing cardiac arrest, calling 911 immediately, performing CPR and using an AED [automated external defibrillator] as soon as it is available are critical for survival,” stressed Mariell Jessup, MD, the AHA’s chief science and medical officer, in a press release.

When asked what schools and athletic teams can do to prevent or prepare for these events in young athletes, an AHA spokesperson referred to the organization’s cardiac emergency response plan that prioritizes AED availability, broad education on hands-only CPR, and routine drills.

“We don’t have a lot of detail on James’ cardiac arrest outside of the family statement, so we are simply reminding folks of the chain of survival around cardiac emergencies,” the spokesperson told MedPage Today.

The AHA cited an estimate that only one in 10 people survive an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Last year, Vincent Iwuchukwu, another USC basketball player, also had a cardiac arrest while practicing. His trainers hooked him up to an AED within a minute. The player survived, had a pulse generator implanted, and returned to play 6 months later. The cause of his cardiac arrest was never found or publicly disclosed.

For now, the cause of James’ sudden cardiac arrest is to be determined, and there are several possibilities.

In January, NFL safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field during a televised “Monday Night Football” game. He initially had a pulse when he was hit during the game. When he lost the pulse, responders started CPR, followed by defibrillation within minutes. Hamlin was then moved to an ambulance, where he was intubated for respiratory support, and arrived at the hospital within 45 minutes of his collapse.

Hamlin was admitted to the surgical ICU and put on mechanical ventilation and aggressive targeted temperature management. He left the hospital and was officially diagnosed with commotio cordis months later following an extensive cardiac workup to rule out other causes of cardiac arrest, such as the most common cause, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).

“HCM is a common genetic heart disease that results in the heart wall muscle being thicker than normal, and this can predispose some patients to abnormal electrical rhythms that can be responsible for sudden cardiac arrest,” explained Martin Maron, MD, of Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington, Massachusetts, in a press release from the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association.

Evidence is mounting that exercise poses a lower risk for sudden death from HCM than previously thought, leading cardiologists to sour on blanket restrictions on exercise for people with the most prevalent genetic cardiomyopathy that causes sudden cardiac death in young people.

Even more controversial is the concept of routine cardiac screening before participation in sports, which has been criticized for its potential costs and high false-positive rates that would place a large burden on healthcare systems.

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