[sumo] News on Tokitsukaze beya

[Barbara]

The article you pointed out says:
"Shiin wa kyoketsusei shinshikkan datta."

That translates as "The cause of death was cardiac ischemia." Cardiac 
ischemia means that blood flow to the heart muscle is reduced. Not 
through the heart but rather to the heart muscle itself.  Usually that 
is caused by blockage of the cardiac arteries due to arteriosclerosis or 
calcification or less often, a blood clot.

Pulmonary embolism is totally different.  The blockage is in the lungs, 
it is always a blood clot, and it is in the veins not the arteries.

Later in the article it mentions CT scan but it seems to imply that the 
part of the body being scanned was the arms, shoulders, and head, to 
verify that there was no broken bones.  That led to a preliminary 
statement that death was due to a disease of some kind. The type of CT 
unit being used might have been one of the "sports medicine" type which 
are often a portable unit, a rotating C-shaped device. Such a device 
would be good for diagnosing fractures.

Then at the end of the article it is mentioned that on the same day 
(28th) the article was posted, an autopsy was scheduled to be done at 
the request of the family.  The writer of the article seemed to have no 
knowledge of the results of the autopsy.  Results might not be released 
for many days afterward because typically a pathologists report is 
required and that could take weeks even.  So, it looks like nothing is 
really known yet, at least at the time the article was written.

The sentence quoted at the top of my msg, though, is probably the 
explanation for the Reuters report, which described the cause of death 
as "heart attack" which is the common term for cardiac ischemia. It 
looks like that report resulted in a cascade of "heart attack" headlines 
by other news agencies who relied on Reuters.

An interesting question is: what if the autopsy shows the boy died as a 
result of a problem caused by steroid abuse?  I'm not suggesting that 
was the case, but I wonder what would happen.  It makes sense that the 
first time that a young recruit might have access to steroids is when he 
joins a heya.  If he were to have a really bad reaction to them, that 
might be when it would happen.  Perhaps the heya boss should worry if he 
has been encouraging his recruits to bulk up fast using steroids. 
Cigarette burns and hazing don't look quite as serious by comparison.

Barbara Murasakihana

Achim Pawelczyk wrote:
> I only look at the Japanese pages.
> I don't have any printed pages, but directly check the sumo web pages of 
> Yomiuri-, Hochi-, Asahi-, Mainichi-, Kochi-Shimbun, Toonippo, Sanspo, 
> Chuspo, Tospo, Daily sports, Nikkan sports, Sponichi and the 
> fighting/general sports related pages of Sankei Shimbun and Yukan Fuji.
> I also take a look at the Yahoo compilation.
> Usually I use information put together from several sources for my 
> postings and mix them with my own interpretation and comments.
> 
> In fact the only article where I found that info I posted was this:
> http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/sumo/news/20070628i503.htm
> 
> That wasn't the autopsy result, but apparently the first examination.
> The result of the autopsy after that was reported in several sources, my 
> original post was mainly compiled using Sanspo and Hochi pages.
> 
> -- 
> Akinomaki
> 
> Barbara schrieb:
>> Where did they report it? It is not online anywhere at Yomiuri Online.
>>
>> Google cannot find a single article anywhere combining the terms 
>> Tokitaizan and either Pulmonary or Embolism.
>>
>> Nor can Google find a single instance of "CT" and "Tokitaizan".
>>
>> Did you read this in the printed page?  If so, why is it that no other 
>> sources seem to be acknowledging it?
>>
>> Sorry to put you on the spot, but I see no sign that such an autopsy 
>> result has been reported.
>>
>> If death was due to pulmonary embolism, then it would be accidental in 
>> the sense that it could not have been foreseen.  Many things can cause 
>> a blood clot in the veins, including sitting in one place too long, 
>> such as when one plays video games for 20 hours straight.  I don't 
>> believe you could accurately describe the death as "shock".  If it is 
>> a Pulmonary Embolism, the sumo stable is probably off the hook, though 
>> they might still be criticized for the cigarette burns.
>>
>> In the media,
>> Mainichi says:
>> "Professional sumo wrestler Tokitaizan died from heart failure after 
>> he collapsed during practice."
>>
>> On the 29th Mainichi says:" The cause of the sudden death of a sumo 
>> wrestler during practice here earlier this week is likely to be shock 
>> caused by multiple injuries"
>>
>> Amazingly, Reuters and Scotsman.com says "Teenage sumo wrestler dies 
>> after heart attack" which is of course untrue.
>>
>> Barbara Murasakihana
>>
>> Achim Pawelczyk wrote:
>>> Barbara schrieb:
>>>>
>>>> It's just a guess on my part, but it sounds a bit like pulmonary 
>>>> embolism. That can happen if a large blood clot forms in a vein, 
>>>> such as the legs, then breaks free and travels to the lungs.  
>>>> Repeated injuries might cause deep vein ruptures and/or thrombosis.  
>>>> See http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec04/ch046/ch046a.html
>>>> I would think that an autopsy could confirm it so that there would 
>>>> be no doubt.  I am not a doctor.
>>>
>>> Actually that is what the Yomiuri shimbun had reported on the 28th as 
>>> the cause of death, confirmed by a CT scan etc.
>>> It looks to me like the autopsy after that only added a possible 
>>> reason for that direct cause of death, when stating not more than this:
>>> possibility of a shock by multiple injuries being connected/leading 
>>> to his death.
>>>
> 
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