Cheema said that nothing was carried out despite several complaints by the cyclist on having some major heart-related symptoms.
“At his level, a high-performance athlete, having complaints like feeling sleepy and having chest pain are quite typical, so maybe that is why no one even went to the next step.
“If a CT or MRI scan was done properly, it should be picked up,” he commented during a virtual press conference on Azizulhasni’s health situation yesterday.
Yesterday, Azizulhasni, 34, announced that he is currently recovering after undergoing open heart surgery for a rare heart condition known as anomalous aortic origin of the right coronary artery (AAORCA) at the Epworth Richmond Hospital in Melbourne, Australia on April 21.
The life-threatening condition brings the risk of cardiac arrest and sudden death if not treated with corrective surgery immediately.
Meanwhile, the former world champion known as “Pocket Rocketman” explained that his rare condition could only be identified with sophisticated tests and that his earlier electrocardiogram (ECG), echocardiogram, and CT coronary angiogram examinations failed to detect his condition.
“I was very lucky that I later did an MRI that detected the issue. I was very healthy, and did not have any health issues. I was competing and training, but I just had discomfort in my chest, so I thought it was a normal thing as an athlete because we are dealing with high-level training.
“I would like to advise everyone, whether you’re an average person or an athlete, that we all need to do full screening to ensure we don’t have any other issues. I think it is very important that all athletes undergo full screening to ensure they don’t have such a rare condition. We just never know,” he added.
In the meantime, the Olympian’s social media channel was flooded with messages from fans and well-wishers.
During last year’s Aidilfitri celebration, the Malaysian sports fraternity was shocked by the sudden death of national archer Haziq Kamaruddin.
The health ministry said at the time that a post-mortem revealed that Haziq died of complications arising from clogged heart blood vessels due to coronary artery atherosclerosis.
Heart attack
Meanwhile, speaking about his heart condition, Azizulhasni said he first felt chest pains after a crash in Brisbane in 2019 during his run-up to the Tokyo Olympics, but tests at the hospital, including an ECG, showed everything was normal.
He said that upon resuming training after the post-Olympic break last November, he felt unusual pain in his chest like a heart attack, including sweating, and that an examination with a cardiologist in Melbourne, Dr Barveen Aisha, showed an unusual ECG reading.
“A stress test, echocardiogram and angiogram were all normal and it was only after the MRI scan in early December that the doctors informed me that I have a rare condition, which is only found in 1% of the population.
“I opted for a second MRI and was still 50-50 (about undergoing surgery). But after consultations with cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Aubrey Almeid, who was recommended to me by National Heart Institute (IJN) senior consultant cardiothoracic surgeon-cum-sports director Dr Jeffrey Jeswant Dillon, I had the confidence to undergo the surgery,” he said.
Speaking about his post-surgery process, Azizulhasni said he was still experiencing fatigue and that he had been advised to have a good rest for a few weeks.
Meanwhile, Dillon told Bernama that the medical team opted for reimplantation of the right coronary artery through minimally invasive surgery via mini-sternotomy technique to hasten Azizulhasni’s recovery so that he can resume high-intensity training.
The heart, he said, is an organ that requires blood supply and that everyone has a left and right coronary artery. In AAORCA cases like Azizul’s, both the coronary arteries arise from the same aortic sinus, which then causes some problems, such as a lack of blood in the heart muscles, that require surgery.
The cost for the operation is covered under the National Sports Council’s insurance scheme.
Azizulhasni, who was recently crowned the Sportsman of the Year for 2019/2020 for the fourth time after 2009, 2010, and 2017, became the country’s first cyclist to win an Olympic medal after bagging the keirin bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics, before delivering the silver at last year’s Tokyo Olympics.
He also created history when he won the keirin event at the 2017 World Cycling Championships in Hong Kong.