Basketball Player Dies of Cardiomyopathy

Last week, I was saddened to hear of the death of Kevin Duckworth due to congestive heart failure brought on by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

I've been a big basketball fan since I was out of diapers. My favorite basketball team growing up was the Los Angeles Lakers. During that time period, one of their main rivals was the Portland Trailblazers led by Clyde Drexler. The Trailblazers were a good team and made the NBA Finals twice during Kevin Duckworth's career there. A 2 time All-Star, Duckworth was a major force to be reckoned with in the middle.

Duckworth, 44, was on a trip on the coast of Oregon to volunteer in a free basketball clinic when he passed away. The autopsy showed the cause of death was "attributed to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with congestive heart failure."

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is defined by the National Institute of Health as "a condition in which the heart muscle becomes thick. The thickening makes it harder for blood to leave the heart, forcing the heart to work harder to pump blood."

This hypertrophic cardiomyopathy seems to run in the Duckworth family. Both of Kevin Duckworth's brothers as well as his father had died of congestive heart failure brought on by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

It is important to note that- Although VesCell adult stem cell therapy can help dilated cardiomyopathy patients, unfortunately, VesCell can NOT help hypertrophic cardiomyopathy cases similar to Kevin Duckworth. It is my wish that one day stem cell therapy will be able to help this condition as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is one of the leading causes of sudden cardiac death in young athletes.