AC Milan general spiel 2.0

[San Paolo]

Latest reports are suggesting that the hypothesis on Cassano is meningitis.

[Italiamia]

They are transferring him to the neurological wing of the clinic. Nobody knows what is wrong with him. He continues to have dizziness and is not speaking in a normal manner. It could be a bleed in the brain but some are speculating that it is drug related. Not necessarily illicit drugs, but he does take medicine for his mental issues. Perhaps there is some imbalance going on. If it were a stroke that would be known by now. The latest news is not good.

[Lupa]

Yeah by now doctors should know if it's a stroke. It's a very strange situation. I hope for the best for him.

[The MAN]

It's pretty fucked up, this is the second rare condition a Milan player this season so far after Rino's, not sure wtf is going on there, this is probably even more delicate and hasn't been definitively diagnosed yet as far as I know, hoping for the best to Antonio

[p_maldini_3]

the rumors are that he had an transient ischemic attack, aka a mini stroke. those reports have not been confirmed, and it would be incredible that a 29 year old would suffer such an attack.

regardless, he is getting better, let's hope he can return to the field sooner than later.

[RomaShield27]

Thats some mad news about Cassano. Thats what drugs will do to you, though. Either drugs or excessive straining of the face and pulling one's underwear up over ones jersey.

[RomaShield27]

Italy unites behind stricken Gattuso and Cassano
Tuesday 01 November 2011 16:51 – http://fourfourtwo.com/blogs/serieaaaaargh/archive/2011/11/01/italy-unites-behind-stricken-gattuso-and-cassano.aspx

These are difficult times in Italy. The government’s debt is front-page news across the world. It is now the second highest in the Eurozone, and borrowing is naturally becoming more expensive. By one study’s reckoning unemployment has risen to 8.3 per cent and domestic inflation has hit its highest level in three years. There is a palpable sense of vulnerability about the country and few places remain for the people to seek refuge from the depressing headlines.

Sport is where most of them look to for an escape. But even that is providing little succour at the moment. Thousands were shocked and profoundly moved by the tragic death of the rising star of Moto GP, Marco Simoncelli, after an accident at the Malaysia Grand Prix on October 23. Later that day, his face featured on the big screens of Italy’s football grounds. A minute’s silence was held and black armbands were worn in commemoration of his life. Everybody hurt.

It was in this sobering context with a red and black shirt bearing Simoncelli’s name draped out in front of him that the Milan midfielder Rino Gattuso held a press conference on a rainy afternoon to reveal that the sixth cranial nerve of his left eye was paralysed and the muscle linked to it was no longer working. A clash with teammate Alessandro Nesta during the opening match of the season against Lazio had worsened an existing problem with his sight.

Present at San Siro on match days with the left lens of his designer glasses covered with a bandage, Gattuso has not played since and at first feared that the affliction not only threatened his career but his life too. “I really thought the worst,” he said. “When they put you in the CAT scan cylinder and you’re afraid you have a tumour, your thoughts go to your little kids. Now I know that that kind of ‘worst’ has been excluded so, despite everything, I can let out a big sigh of relief.”

Gattuso will be out for at least four months. He remains hopeful the nerve will start to function normally again of its own accord but for now the World Cup winner can only wait before considering an operation. “I fight against an invisible man,” he added. “Every morning when I wake up I open the healthy eye first then the sick one and I say to myself: ‘We’re still where we were.

“Before I saw triple and now double, so I am improving a little. Football is no longer the central part of my thoughts. Now every day life is more important: it’s awful not being able to take the kids to school, not being able to drive. I find it hard to watch the TV and also to write an email on the PC: I see objects in one place while in reality they are in another. If you are not strong mentally, it’s very tough.”

Keeping his spirits up at Milanello with his jokes and high jinks was Antonio Cassano. Now it’s the condition of the latter that is of deep concern to a nation. Late on Saturday night as the Milan players were disembarking a charter flight home from the capital where they had inflicted a 3-2 defeat on Roma, Cassano reportedly felt feint and was lent up against the bus that was due to take them to the terminal at Malpensa.

There were claims that his vision became blurry, and that he developed problems with his speech and movement. In the early hours of Sunday morning, Cassano was taken to the Pronto Soccorso hospital by Milan’s medical staff where it’s said he underwent tests on his blood and heart. He was then transferred to the neurology department at the Policlinico di Milano for further examination.

The Italian news agency ANSA reported last night that the initial diagnosis was a transient ischemic attack or mini-stroke. Milan reacted by releasing a statement to the effect that it was “hypothetical” and “cannot possibly be verified as they are from neither the club’s medical staff, nor the doctors at the Policlinico di Milano who are caring for him.”

As of yet there is no official diagnosis, and nor should one necessarily be issued. Cassano may be a public figure, but he is also a patient and has a right to privacy and confidentiality. What was apparent from the tears in the eyes of his mother Giovanna and the distress on the face of his wife Carolina yesterday is that even if Cassano’s condition is said to be improving, he has had a real fright.
Unsurprisingly, messages of support for the jovial playmaker haven’t been lacking. Roma captain Francesco Totti even wrote on his blog: “Antonio, hurry up and get out of that hospital because I’m sure the doctors and nurses can’t take any more of you and your jokes.” Ronaldo tweeted: “Forza Cassano.”

It’s too early to speculate exactly what the future holds. Some already have done, of course, suggesting that if Cassano has in fact suffered a transient ischemic attack then as long as the source of it is discovered and removed he will in theory be able to play again. For now, however, the most important thing is that he puts his health first and football second. That goes for Gattuso too.
For what their examples show is that for all our efforts to put them on a pedestal and regard them as untouchable, they are really just human and mortal like us.

[The MAN]

I'm so pissed off now, all the good work we've done to get a result at Camp Nou is thrown out the window.

We'll need to beat them now to get that 1st place

[p_maldini_3]

robinho needs to get back in form, he can't hit the post in front of an empty net. what a fucking shame.

[red]

On the contrary - he can hit the post.

[vtec]

crazy about cassano.
i've picked up some weird bug as well. don't have a runny nose, but every muscle, ligament and sinew in my body is aching and all my energy is drained. hit me like a brick last night and intensified tonight

[p_maldini_3]

It's probably that gift from lupa that keeps on giving.

[Italiamia]

A causare l'ictus potrebbe essere stato un piccolo embolo che ha raggiunto un vaso del cervello, il tutto complicato da un difetto cardiaco molto diffuso ma che passa inosservato negli esami


In attesa di notizie certe, continuano le ipotesi sulla vicenda Cassano. Abbiamo interpellato Marco Bortoluzzi, responsabile della Struttura semplice di Neurochirurgia degli Ospedali di Brescia, secondo il cui parere Cassano avrebbe subìto un ictus ischemico transitorio: "E' la conseguenza di un embolo, ovvero di un frammento coagulato di sangue distaccatosi da una parete vascolare che occlude un piccolo vaso arterioso cerebrale - spiega Bortoluzzi -. Ne segue un disturbo della funzione del territorio cerebrale vascolarizzato da quel vaso. Come per esempio quello della parola. Il danno può essere compensato. Le indagini diagnostiche vascolari, cardiologiche ed ematologiche richiedono qualche settimana di tempo. Poi bisognerebbe considerare l'opportunità di una terapia farmacologica. Quindi la sospensione dell'attività per la diagnosi e il trattamento terapeutico non possono che richiedere qualche settimana. Potrebbe tornare in campo nel giro di un paio di mesi. La differenza tra un ictus e un'ischemia? L'ictus è una manifestazione acuta che può portare all'occlusione o alla rottura di un vaso. L'ischemia è causata da un insufficiente apporto temporaneo di sangue al cervello".

VALUTAZIONI E IPOTESI — Domani il medico del Milan Rodolfo Tavana e il primario Nereo Bresolin valuteranno insieme gli esami di questi giorni e decideranno come procedere. Non si scarta l'operazione per sanare un difetto cardiaco, come già anticipato dal patron del Milan Silvio Berlusconi, e non sarebbero esaurite le speranze di rivederlo in campo. I medici continuano a indagare sulle possibili cause dell'ictus che ha colpito il 29enne attaccante della Nazionale. Una di queste potrebbe essere la formazione di un piccolo embolo (un grumo di sangue) che ha raggiunto un piccolo vaso del cervello con la complicità di un lieve difetto cardiaco presente circa nel 20% della popolazione senza manifestarsi. Si chiama Forame ovale pelvio (Pfo) ed è un foro di meno di 2 millimetri di diametro fra i due atri del cuore, che può passare inosservato anche negli esami a cui è sottoposto un atleta come Cassano. Ma lo avrebbe rilevato l' elettrocardiogramma transesofageo dopo il ricovero dell' attaccante del Milan. In casi simili è prassi intervenire con la tecnica a "ombrellino": partendo da una vena nella gamba si applica attraverso un catetere un ombrellino metallico che tappa il buco. È un intervento in anestesia locale, con due o tre giorni di ricovero, a cui segue una terapia di anticoagulanti.

IL PRESIDENTE DEI MEDICI SPORTIVI — Maurizio Casasco, presidente della Federazione italiana dei medici sportivi, spiega come si arriva a valutare l'idoneità fisica di un atleta professionista dopo che viene colpito da una patologia neurologica. "Un calciatore che ha subito un ictus ischemico può tornare a giocare soltanto se ha un completo ripristino delle funzioni fisiologiche - precisa Casasco -.
Esistono leggi che lo chiariscono. Dopo una qualsiasi patologia l'atleta deve essere sottoposto a accurati esami clinici: dopo il parere dello specialista specifico, in questo caso un neurologo, e dopo i controlli fatti con la risonanza magnetica ed eventualmente anche con la Tac, sentito il parere anche di un medico sportivo, ma soprattutto sotto la responsabilità del medico sociale, si può procedere. Questi pareri sono richiesti dal decreto ministeriale del 1982, e nei casi dei professionisti anche la legge 91 del 1981 con successive modifiche, che impongono di seguire questo tipo di iter. Che non è breve".

Gasport
© RIPRODUZIONE RISERVATA

[p_maldini_3]

this is going to keep cassano out for at least a few months. hope he gets better.

but this fucking blows, he was one of our best players and he was leading the assist chart in the league. we'll miss him.

[San Paolo]

Milan have now confirmed earlier reports that Cassano has a congenital heart defect. Will need minor surgery to correct the problem.

[The MAN]

Good luck to him. It could've been alot worse/

As far as Milan are concerned, missing Cassano for a few months is a massive blow. With that idiot Pato injuring himself every couple of weeks, Inzaghi too old to rely on, we're really going to suffer this year if this continues. We'll need to get somebody in January.

[San Paolo]

i suppose in a very odd way this is better news than Cassano suffering a stroke like they said before.

[Zoff82]

[Italiamia]

[Zoff82]

He could've died on the field or during a game or practice. I dont think Cassano himself realizes the gravity of the situation. Galliani is delusional but I think he's downplaying the whole thing. This is serious for Milan and Italy. I'd say he won't make it to Euro 2012 and there goes Italy's hopes of a potent attack.