New York State In-depth

The latest on the condition of Damar Hamlin

When asked about a specific cause of Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest, a University of Cincinnati doctor said tests were still underway to determine.

“The answer to that is that this workup is still ongoing. We do not have definitive answers as to the etiology of the arrest and testing will continue to progress,” said Dr. William Knight, senior physician and professor of emergency medicine at UC Health.

Knight said they don’t rule out commotio cordis, but it’s too early to say without further testing.

Commotio cordis — when major trauma to the chest disrupts the heart’s electrical charge and causes dangerous fibrillation — is an “incredibly rare event that happens.” It’s also a diagnosis of exclusion in our world, which basically means we have to rule out many other more common or deadly or more treatable conditions before we can settle on a definitive diagnosis like this,” Knight said.

“Is it on the list of considerations? It is, but he has many other things that we need to work through before a definitive etiology or cause for this arrest can be definitively defined,” Knight added.

For privacy reasons, Hamlin’s doctors have repeatedly declined to answer specific questions about the results of tests Hamlin is undergoing.

Doctors said the review is pending, and they couldn’t provide detailed answers about how long Hamlin received CPR, Hamlin’s current oxygen levels, whether an echocardiogram was done, whether Hamlin saw a specialist for underlying rhythmic or genetic causes, or whether there was damage to other organs such as the kidneys or liver.

Comments are closed.