According to doctors and his club Grizzlys Wolfsburg, an inflammation of the heart muscle in the German ice hockey professional Janik Möser is due to an infection with the corona virus. “We cannot say that with 100 percent certainty, but with a very high probability,” said Grizzlys manager Karl-Heinz Fliegauf. The club and his 25-year-old defender have now made the course of the illness public “in order to raise awareness of the issue. The player feels in top shape, but the tests say otherwise,” said Fliegauf.
Möser tested positive for the virus in October and was sent to a two-week quarantine. Before returning to training, the Wolfsburg-based company also performed a stress ECG on their defender, which produced significantly different results than the previous examinations in the summer. Möser was then examined by a specialist from the Berlin Charité who diagnosed the heart muscle inflammation and established the connection with Covid-19 disease. “Apart from Corona, Janik couldn’t find anything that could have been the trigger,” said Axel Gänsslen, team doctor for the Grizzlys Wolfsburg News.
Doctors have long assumed that a corona infection can lead to cardiovascular complications even in competitive athletes. A research project on this was started at the University Clinic in Tübingen in July. The Wolfsburg manager Fliegauf confirmed that his club is in exchange with the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) after Möser’s illness. The aim is initially to work out a uniform procedure for professionals who return to the company after a corona infection: What is being examined? Which research findings are incorporated there? “We want to minimize the risk and protect the athletes,” said Fliegauf.
Möser is initially not allowed to participate in the training because of his heart muscle inflammation. He will be examined again in January. For the time being, the only thing that is certain, said the 25-year-old, is that neither professional nor amateur athletes should take a corona infection lightly.
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