Salanson Continued



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B. Lafferty

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From ProCycling:

http://www.procycling.com/news_main.asp?newsId=4795 A report into the death of Brioches La
Boulangère’s Fabrice Salanson has revealed that medical tests done on the 23-year-old Frenchman just
three weeks before his death had revealed serious abnormalities.

Initial suspicion that Salanson’s death might have been related to doping were quashed when the
autopsy revealed no evidence that the Frenchman had used doping substances. However, the French
daily ‘Le Parisien’ has released details of tests carried out on Salanson in Nantes 22 days before
the heart attack that caused his premature death in Dresden the day before the start of the
Deutschland Tour.

Le Parisien’s report states that Salanson produced "abnormal" results when he underwent an
electrocardiagram and VO2 max tests at Nantes’ University Hospital in mid-May. Salanson went to the
centre to undergo routine tests after fracturing his shoulder blade.

The medical report said that his "electrocardiagram was irregular". Even more worryingly, his VO2
max had to be stopped when he reached 49kph because his heart rate had gone up to 196 beats a
minute. Despite these readings, Salanson subsequently rode the Tour of Asturias and A Travers Le
Morbihan before heading to Germany for the Deutschland Tour.

Brioches La Boulangère have said that the medical reports they received on Salanson did not suggest
that he could not compete.

Salanson’s family, meanwhile, have started to investigate the causes of the 23 year old’s death and
have hired legal counsel to help them determine the cause of death.
 
"B. Lafferty" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]: Short version of original post

> From ProCycling:
>
>
> http://www.procycling.com/news_main.asp?newsId=4795 A report into the death of Brioches La
> Boulangère’s Fabrice Salanson has revealed that medical tests done on the 23-year-old Frenchman
> just three weeks before his death had revealed serious abnormalities.
>

I just watched the 2002 LBL in which i believe salanson made a durand like solo break as was off the
front for over 130K all I can say is wow. He had talent.
 
In article <[email protected]>, "B. Lafferty"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> From ProCycling:
>
>
> http://www.procycling.com/news_main.asp?newsId=4795 A report into the death of Brioches La
> Boulangère’s Fabrice Salanson has revealed that medical tests done on the 23-year-old Frenchman
> just three weeks before his death had revealed serious abnormalities.
>
> Initial suspicion that Salanson’s death might have been related to doping were quashed when the
> autopsy revealed no evidence that the Frenchman had used doping substances. However, the French
> daily ‘Le Parisien’ has released details of tests carried out on Salanson in Nantes 22 days before
> the heart attack that caused his premature death in Dresden the day before the start of the
> Deutschland Tour.
>
> Le Parisien’s report states that Salanson produced "abnormal" results when he underwent an
> electrocardiagram and VO2 max tests at Nantes’ University Hospital in mid-May. Salanson went to
> the centre to undergo routine tests after fracturing his shoulder blade.
>
> The medical report said that his "electrocardiagram was irregular". Even more worryingly, his VO2
> max had to be stopped when he reached 49kph because his heart rate had gone up to 196 beats a
> minute. Despite these readings, Salanson subsequently rode the Tour of Asturias and A Travers Le
> Morbihan before heading to Germany for the Deutschland Tour.
>
> Brioches La Boulangère have said that the medical reports they received on Salanson did not
> suggest that he could not compete.
>
> Salanson’s family, meanwhile, have started to investigate the causes of the 23 year old’s death
> and have hired legal counsel to help them determine the cause of death.

This is kind of interesting, because just a few weeks ago, I read a study done in Britain about
Sudden Adult Death. THe British heart institute studied a number of cases where this had occurred- a
young person dying suddenly, with no cause found in the autopsy. A significant amount of those
deaths are just like Salanson, men who die suddenly, with no signs of illness.

What they did was test all the first degree relatives (parents, siblings) and ask about family
history, and they found that about a quarter of the decedent's families had a parent or sibling with
some sort of heart condition, many were arrhythmias or heart conditions which could be treated with
pacemakers. OF course, that doesn't show up on an autopsy, so they say, "natural causes". In one
case, a 28 year old cyclist died cycling up a hill, and they found that his mother had died in her
40s, suddenly. And in another case, a 21 year old guy died while walking across a parking lot, and
his brother was found to have a heart condition and got a pacemaker.

That sounds a lot like salanson. I would imagine having an arrhythmia and say, sprinting or going up
the alps could cause a few problems. Didn't that italian cyclist who just died also have some sort
of heart condition? I am sure salanson had some sort of history like that in his family. They also
found that in about a quarter of the cases, another family member had died suddenly. Of course, with
athletes we all assume dope, especially cyclists, but I guess that's understandable.
 
In article <[email protected]>, Marlene Blanshay <[email protected]> wrote:
> I would imagine having an arrhythmia and say, sprinting or going up the alps could cause a few
> problems.

If the arrhythmia originates in the upper parts of the heart (atria) it will be an inconvenience but
rarely life-threatening. If the arrhythmia manifests in the lower parts of the heart (ventricles)
it's a big problem.

-WG
 
"Marlene Blanshay" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>, "B. Lafferty"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > From ProCycling:
> >
> >
> > http://www.procycling.com/news_main.asp?newsId=4795 A report into the death of Brioches La
> > Boulangère's Fabrice Salanson has revealed that medical tests done on the 23-year-old Frenchman
> > just three weeks before his death had revealed serious abnormalities.
> >
> > Initial suspicion that Salanson's death might have been related to
doping
> > were quashed when the autopsy revealed no evidence that the Frenchman
had
> > used doping substances. However, the French daily 'Le Parisien' has
released
> > details of tests carried out on Salanson in Nantes 22 days before the
heart
> > attack that caused his premature death in Dresden the day before the
start
> > of the Deutschland Tour.
> >
> > Le Parisien's report states that Salanson produced "abnormal" results
when
> > he underwent an electrocardiagram and VO2 max tests at Nantes'
University
> > Hospital in mid-May. Salanson went to the centre to undergo routine
tests
> > after fracturing his shoulder blade.
> >
> > The medical report said that his "electrocardiagram was irregular". Even more worryingly, his
> > VO2 max had to be stopped when he reached 49kph
because
> > his heart rate had gone up to 196 beats a minute. Despite these
readings,
> > Salanson subsequently rode the Tour of Asturias and A Travers Le
Morbihan
> > before heading to Germany for the Deutschland Tour.
> >
> > Brioches La Boulangère have said that the medical reports they received
on
> > Salanson did not suggest that he could not compete.
> >
> > Salanson's family, meanwhile, have started to investigate the causes of
the
> > 23 year old's death and have hired legal counsel to help them determine
the
> > cause of death.
>
>
>
> This is kind of interesting, because just a few weeks ago, I read a study done in Britain about
> Sudden Adult Death. THe British heart institute studied a number of cases where this had occurred-
> a young person dying suddenly, with no cause found in the autopsy. A significant amount of those
> deaths are just like Salanson, men who die suddenly, with no signs of illness.
>
> What they did was test all the first degree relatives (parents, siblings) and ask about family
> history, and they found that about a quarter of the decedent's families had a parent or sibling
> with some sort of heart condition, many were arrhythmias or heart conditions which could be
> treated with pacemakers. OF course, that doesn't show up on an autopsy, so they say, "natural
> causes". In one case, a 28 year old cyclist died cycling up a hill, and they found that his mother
> had died in her 40s, suddenly. And in another case, a 21 year old guy died while walking across a
> parking lot, and his brother was found to have a heart condition and got a pacemaker.
>
> That sounds a lot like salanson. I would imagine having an arrhythmia and say, sprinting or going
> up the alps could cause a few problems. Didn't that italian cyclist who just died also have some
> sort of heart condition? I am sure salanson had some sort of history like that in his family. They
> also found that in about a quarter of the cases, another family member had died suddenly. Of
> course, with athletes we all assume dope, especially cyclists, but I guess that's understandable.

I'd be curious to know why his physician did not follow up on the abnormalities discovered some
weeks earlier. Hope he has a letter in his file to the patient to cover his posterior.
 
Marlene Blanshay wrote:
>
> That sounds a lot like salanson. I would imagine having an arrhythmia and say, sprinting or going
> up the alps could cause a few problems.
>
I have a mitral valve prolapse, which causes noticable arrhythmia. Cycling hard never bothered it,
the harder I rode the more even the heartbeat. So say me and all the medical tests. However, the
decrease in resting heart rate could cause a problem. I had a girlfriend once nearly freak out
because I was in great shape with a low RHR, and the prolapse caused a beat (or 2) to be skipped.
Since she was leaning against my chest she noticed when my heart had not beat for several seconds. I
was just falling asleep too, it would beat when it was ready. But maybe for some young cyclists with
arrhythmia it stops beating and decides to never beat again.
 
"B. Lafferty" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Marlene Blanshay" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > In article <[email protected]>,
"B.
> > Lafferty" <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > > From ProCycling:
> > >
> > >
> > > http://www.procycling.com/news_main.asp?newsId=4795 A report into the death of Brioches La
> > > Boulangère's Fabrice
Salanson has
> > > revealed that medical tests done on the 23-year-old Frenchman just
three
> > > weeks before his death had revealed serious abnormalities.
> > >
> > > Initial suspicion that Salanson's death might have been related to
> doping
> > > were quashed when the autopsy revealed no evidence that the
Frenchman
> had
> > > used doping substances. However, the French daily 'Le Parisien'
has
> released
> > > details of tests carried out on Salanson in Nantes 22 days before
the
> heart
> > > attack that caused his premature death in Dresden the day before
the
> start
> > > of the Deutschland Tour.
> > >
> > > Le Parisien's report states that Salanson produced "abnormal"
results
> when
> > > he underwent an electrocardiagram and VO2 max tests at Nantes'
> University
> > > Hospital in mid-May. Salanson went to the centre to undergo
routine
> tests
> > > after fracturing his shoulder blade.
> > >
> > > The medical report said that his "electrocardiagram was
irregular". Even
> > > more worryingly, his VO2 max had to be stopped when he reached
49kph
> because
> > > his heart rate had gone up to 196 beats a minute. Despite these
> readings,
> > > Salanson subsequently rode the Tour of Asturias and A Travers Le
> Morbihan
> > > before heading to Germany for the Deutschland Tour.
> > >
> > > Brioches La Boulangère have said that the medical reports they
received
> on
> > > Salanson did not suggest that he could not compete.
> > >
> > > Salanson's family, meanwhile, have started to investigate the
causes of
> the
> > > 23 year old's death and have hired legal counsel to help them
determine
> the
> > > cause of death.
> >
> >
> >
> > This is kind of interesting, because just a few weeks ago, I read a
study
> > done in Britain about Sudden Adult Death. THe British heart
institute
> > studied a number of cases where this had occurred- a young person
dying
> > suddenly, with no cause found in the autopsy. A significant amount
of
> > those deaths are just like Salanson, men who die suddenly, with no
signs
> > of illness.
> >
> > What they did was test all the first degree relatives (parents,
siblings)
> > and ask about family history, and they found that about a quarter of
the
> > decedent's families had a parent or sibling with some sort of heart condition, many were
> > arrhythmias or heart conditions which could be treated with pacemakers. OF course, that doesn't
> > show up on an
autopsy,
> > so they say, "natural causes". In one case, a 28 year old cyclist
died
> > cycling up a hill, and they found that his mother had died in her
40s,
> > suddenly. And in another case, a 21 year old guy died while walking
across
> > a parking lot, and his brother was found to have a heart condition
and got
> > a pacemaker.
> >
> > That sounds a lot like salanson. I would imagine having an
arrhythmia and
> > say, sprinting or going up the alps could cause a few problems.
Didn't
> > that italian cyclist who just died also have some sort of heart
condition?
> > I am sure salanson had some sort of history like that in his family.
They
> > also found that in about a quarter of the cases, another family
member had
> > died suddenly. Of course, with athletes we all assume dope,
especially
> > cyclists, but I guess that's understandable.
>
> I'd be curious to know why his physician did not follow up on the abnormalities discovered some
> weeks earlier. Hope he has a letter in
his
> file to the patient to cover his posterior.
>
Something "irregular" and something "life threatening" can be two different things. More details on
the electrocardiagram irregularity would be needed to question the decision to continue racing.
Stopping his VO2 max test at 49kph and 196 bpm was, I guess, significantly different from what was
normal for him. I'm curious to know some of these details.

Phil Holman
 
In article <[email protected]>, "Kyle Legate"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> Marlene Blanshay wrote:
> >
> > That sounds a lot like salanson. I would imagine having an arrhythmia and say, sprinting or
> > going up the alps could cause a few problems.
> >
> I have a mitral valve prolapse, which causes noticable arrhythmia. Cycling hard never bothered it,
> the harder I rode the more even the heartbeat. So say me and all the medical tests. However, the
> decrease in resting heart rate could cause a problem. I had a girlfriend once nearly freak out
> because I was in great shape with a low RHR, and the prolapse caused a beat (or 2) to be skipped.
> Since she was leaning against my chest she noticed when my heart had not beat for several seconds.
> I was just falling asleep too, it would beat when it was ready. But maybe for some young cyclists
> with arrhythmia it stops beating and decides to never beat again.

Maybe, I think that's what they were getting at in the study. In fact, they aren't quite sure
exactly what causes the heart to stop in those cases- which is why they do all this research. In
some cases it's just a mystery. The types of arrythmias they mentioned were "long QT" and another
one which has something to do with the time between when valves are active or inactive, and
something called hypertrophy (has to do with the muscles).
 
"Marlene Blanshay" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> Maybe, I think that's what they were getting at in the study. In fact, they aren't quite sure
> exactly what causes the heart to stop in those cases- which is why they do all this research. In
> some cases it's just a mystery. The types of arrythmias they mentioned were "long QT" and another
> one which has something to do with the time between when valves are active or inactive, and
> something called hypertrophy (has to do with the muscles).

Hypertrophy with regards to the heart means the heart muscle is enlarged, something that is common
in many athletes because of the demand that they put on the heart. Dave
 
[email protected] (Marlene Blanshay) wrote:

>That sounds a lot like salanson. I would imagine having an arrhythmia and say, sprinting or going
>up the alps could cause a few problems. Didn't that italian cyclist who just died also have some
>sort of heart condition?

Yes, Zanette had that kind of history, with both his father and his grandfather dying young because
of heart attacks. But Zanette was also 33 years old, an age that starts to be more typical for heart
attack deaths than the age of Salanson.
 
More from today's news:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/?id=2003/dec03/dec03news Salanson's family wants answers The family
of Fabrice Salanson, who died of heart failure on the eve of the Tour of Germany, has taken legal
action to seize the rider's medical files in an effort to determine a possible case of negligence.
Saddened by the death of their son and angered by lingering suspicions of doping as a cause of
death, Salanson's parents have expressed their concern that 'abnormal' test results presented to the
Brioches La Boulangère team in May should have been more closely pursued.

"We're not trying to start a new debate," Hughes Salanson told the French press. "We're not blaming
any one person, and certainly not the directors of the Brioches La Boulangère team. They have
supported and helped us through difficult moments, but today they need to put themselves in our
place. We want to know what happened."

At issue is the revelation that during stress tests in April, Salanson's electrocardiogram showed an
interruption in his heartbeat. Team doctors insisted that nothing had prompted a determination that
Salanson was not fit to race professionally, but more questions are now being asked.

"We've asked for the opinions of three specialists," the Salanson family's lawyer Didier Domat
explained. "For them, the tests taken April 1st and sent to Fabrice Salanson May 12th required
further analysis."

According to Domat, other circumstances prompted concern with the Salanson family.

"They discovered that the management of La Boulangère appealed the decision of CPAM (the team's
medical insurance company) to label Salanson's death as a work accident in order to prevent the
team's insurance premiums from going up next season," Domat said in l'Equipe. "The family found this
attitude bizarre, if not inappropriate."

"Davide Tosi" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> [email protected] (Marlene Blanshay) wrote:
>
> >That sounds a lot like salanson. I would imagine having an arrhythmia and say, sprinting or going
> >up the alps could cause a few problems. Didn't that italian cyclist who just died also have some
> >sort of heart
condition?
>
> Yes, Zanette had that kind of history, with both his father and his grandfather dying young
> because of heart attacks. But Zanette was also 33 years old, an age that starts to be more typical
> for heart attack deaths than the age of Salanson.
 
In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (Davide Tosi) wrote:

> [email protected] (Marlene Blanshay) wrote:
>
> >That sounds a lot like salanson. I would imagine having an arrhythmia and say, sprinting or going
> >up the alps could cause a few problems. Didn't that italian cyclist who just died also have some
> >sort of heart condition?
>
> Yes, Zanette had that kind of history, with both his father and his grandfather dying young
> because of heart attacks. But Zanette was also 33 years old, an age that starts to be more typical
> for heart attack deaths than the age of Salanson.

Not Zanette, it was another guy- just a few weeks ago. I can't remember his name, he was about 23.
He just up and died, and I think in his case they found some kind of heart condition. And Zanette I
remember had a history in his family, probably the anesthesia did it. Still 33 is really young!

I think that's the fear of anyone having surgery, that you won't wake up. I know a guy who had a
relative die during surgery, although I think he was much older than 33! However, the guy had double
hernia surgery in his 40s and insisted on being awake and given an epidural. He said you don't feel
anything, but you can feel them pulling and tugging- ewwww! A few years ago, I had abdominal surgery
and I was kind of scared about that same thing, not waking up. I think it's normal. But at my
preadmission clinic I asked if I could have a local and be awake, but the anesthesiologist said, you
probably wouldn't want to be awake for that, it's pretty bloody and they scoop out your insides
(Like giblets!). I was convinced. Mind you,at least with a local you don't feel like total **** when
you wake up.

As for salanson, they should check out any siblings he has, because they could also be at risk.
 
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