DENVER —
The setting was completely different, however for Jim Harbaugh the sensation was hauntingly acquainted.
It started the evening earlier than Sunday’s Chargers recreation in opposition to the Denver Broncos, when an irregular heartbeat — a difficulty he handled in 1999 and 2012 — precipitated him discomfort. He knowledgeable a minimum of a few of his gamers, telling them he was merely excited concerning the recreation.
However the arrhythmia — recognized as an atrial flutter — resurfaced in additional dramatic trend throughout pregame warmups, prompting him to briefly duck into the blue medical tent on the sideline then head for the locker room flanked by staff medical personnel.
There’s a lot exercise occurring on an NFL sideline that most of the gamers had no concept that defensive coordinator Jesse Minter had taken over head teaching duties in Harbaugh’s absence.
In the meantime, within the guests’ locker room, paramedics have been measuring {the electrical} exercise of Harbaugh’s coronary heart by administering an electrocardiogram. Marco Zucconi, Chargers director of participant well being, wellness and efficiency, gave the coach an IV and magnesium to deal with his situation.
“It’s the heart,” Harbaugh mentioned after the 23-16 victory, “so you take it seriously.”
Inside minutes, his coronary heart had returned to a standard rhythm and he returned to the sport, strolling again down the sideline and amassing the crimson problem flag from Minter, who had been defensive coordinator on Harbaugh’s College of Michigan employees.
After his two earlier episodes of atrial flutter, Harbaugh underwent ablations, that are minimally invasive procedures that deal with irregular heartbeats by destroying coronary heart tissue that causes irregular electrical alerts.
13 years handed between his first and second ablations, and the second was 12 years in the past.
“I figured I was getting close to the 13-year mark and I was going to need another one,” he mentioned.
Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh, left, is congratulated by Broncos coach Sean Payton after Los Angeles’ highway victory.
(Dustin Bradford / Getty Pictures)
Harbaugh regarded drained within the wake of the victory, however in any other case regular. He’s trim and works out along with his gamers, trying youthful than his 60 years, however leaned over and put his palms on his knees earlier than strolling to the staff bus, ostensibly to catch his breath.
He mentioned he didn’t know whether or not the altitude within the Mile Excessive Metropolis exacerbated his ailment.
Chargers common supervisor Joe Hortiz, who got here from the Ravens, known as Eric DeCosta, his Baltimore counterpart, and apprised him of the state of affairs. Chad Steele, who runs media relations for the Ravens, then minimize quick John Harbaugh’s feedback from the lectern.
John, in flip, known as his mother and father, Jack and Jackie Harbaugh, in Ann Arbor, Mich. By that point, he bought phrase that his youthful brother had been cleared to return to the sideline.
“From a concerning standpoint, any time people have these types of rhythms their heart rates kind of spike up,” mentioned Dr. Nikhil Warrier, medical director of electrophysiology at MemorialCare Coronary heart & Vascular Institute at Orange Coast Medical Middle in Fountain Valley.
“They can be sitting around doing nothing and all of a sudden their heart rates go up to 130, 140, 150 beats per minute and that’s unusual for anyone.”
Warrier mentioned there are an array of things that may result in the situation, together with extreme stress and caffeine consumption, in addition to structural problems with the center.
“Oftentimes we see patients have no other risk factors other than the fact that they showed up and have this arrhythmia,” he mentioned. “In that case it is curable from the ablation. So that ends up being the most common strategy that we employ.”
Harbaugh was taking part in quarterback for the Chargers when he first skilled atrial flutter. The second episode got here when he was teaching the San Francisco 49ers throughout a Monday evening recreation in opposition to the Chicago Bears.
The primary time, he missed a day or two of follow. The second time, along with an ablation, he underwent {an electrical} cardioversion, by which paddles that offer {an electrical} present are used to reset the center’s rhythm again to an everyday sample.
He mentioned after Sunday’s recreation that he deliberate to see a heart specialist Monday.
“Trust the doctors,” he mentioned. “If you’re not going to trust your doctors, who are you going to trust?”
