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Michigan doctor says Damar Hamlin may have suffered a heart concussion

"If you are hit with enough force exactly over the heart at the right time, there's one or two milliseconds where your heart's vulnerable," Dr. Ronald Grifka says.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Many of us were watching the Monday Night Football game when Buffalo Bills Safety Damar Hamlin fell to the ground after taking a hit. 

While the hit didn't seem unusually hard, Dr. Ronald Grifka, Chief Medical Officer with University of Michigan Health West says it's very likely he could have suffered Commotio Cordis.

"It's a Latin phrase that means concussion of the heart. It's an interruption of the normal heart rhythm that occurs from a blow to the chest. At a very critical time. If you are hit with enough force exactly over the heart at the right time, there's one or two milliseconds where your heart's vulnerable. It interrupts your heart rhythm and your heart instead of contracting and pumping blood out goes into cardiac arrest and doesn't pump any blood out which is why he then passed out and went into cardiac arrest."

Dr. Grifka says it's vitally important to get CPR immediately. 

"For every one minute that CPR and defibrillation are delayed your chance of surviving drops 10% so every minute counts," Dr. Grifka says.

Damar Hamlin was transported by ambulance nearly 30 minutes after collapsing on the field. University of Cincinnati Medical Center released information that Hamlin had been placed in a medically induced coma which Dr. Grifka says is standard protocol.

"Most likely they are doing a hypothermic protocol they are going to cool his body temperature down to minimize the amount of energy the brain and the organs need so that they can recover. And they are probably doing the breathing for him to take away some of the work of the other organs so he can heal."

And while the situation seems dire, Dr. Grifka says there is reason to have hope for Damar's potential outcome.

"There's a chance he could walk out of this and be perfectly normal if they got him shocked and back into a normal heart rhythm fast enough."

Dr. Grika adds it is likely that Damar will remain in the hypothermic coma for up to 36 hours. So it may be several days before there is an update on his condition.

Credit: Buffalo Bills

Hamlin's family asked Tuesday for everyone to keep him in your prayers, and that they'll share updates on his condition as soon as they have them. 

13 On Your Side Health Reporter Valerie Lego 

Val has been reporting on health and medical stories in West Michigan for 16 years. She is an 18-time Emmy Award Winner. Her health reporting credentials include fellowships from the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Association of Health Care Journalists

Contact me: vallego@13OnYourSide.com

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