Experts split on likely cause of Iker Casillas heart attack | OneFootball

Medical experts offered conflicting views on what triggered Iker Casillas’s 2019 heart attack, a key issue in his bid to have it ruled a workplace accident.

According to O Jogo, cardiologist Luís Seca of CUF Porto said an intense training session was the most probable trigger, based on Casillas reporting a maximal effort beforehand.

Seca, an interventional cardiology subspecialist, told the judge the after-effects pose a permanent risk for elite athletes and he would not authorise a return to professional football.

He urged overhauling screening for athletes older than 35, proposing mandatory cardiac CT angiography and Doppler echocardiography. He added earlier testing might have detected coronary disease and kept him playing.

Forensic physician Duarte Nuno Vieira countered that exercise can act as a trigger only if the effort is unusually vigorous relative to the player’s norm, which he said is not shown.

He said that, if a particularly intense session were proven, it could be a trigger, but current records point to a natural cause and most heart attacks have no precipitating event.

Vieira acknowledged past roles with Fidelidade and said he has no direct relationship now.

FC Porto HR chief Hugo Esteves said the club paid Casillas until June 2020 and the deal ended on 30 June 2020.

Casillas suffered an acute myocardial infarction on one May 2019 while at Porto, ending his career. He seeks €750,821.91 for temporary total incapacity and €1,521,780.82 for permanent absolute incapacity, plus sums from Porto not covered by insurance and future medical costs.

Source: O Jogo

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”