Christian Koloko’s diagnosis that changed his career: “Something was wrong”

Christian Koloko went through a lengthy medical process to determine the cause of the issues that had put his NBA career on hold.

A second opinion at Cedars-Sinai

After continuing to search for answers, Koloko and his family turned to Cedars-Sinai, where he was examined by Ali Azizzadeh, MD, director of the Division of Vascular Surgery at Cedars-Sinai and associate director of the Smidt Heart Institute.

The examination revealed a significant difference between his two arms.

“When we examined Christian, we found that his left arm was three centimeters bigger in diameter than his right, which suggested a narrowing of the vein,” Azizzadeh explained.

A venogram subsequently revealed a major clot in the vein draining Koloko’s left arm, allowing doctors to diagnose venous thoracic outlet syndrome.

Symptoms began during his rookie season

Koloko began his NBA career with the Toronto Raptors, but his rookie season was soon interrupted by health issues.

“During my rookie season, I started experiencing some shortness of breath and I was getting tired much more quickly than usual. I went to see my doctors with the team because I just felt like something was wrong,” Koloko said.

Testing revealed a blood clot in his lungs.

Because doctors initially had no indication of where the clot had originated, Koloko was placed on blood thinners. The treatment kept him sidelined for most of the following season, as the medication could have caused severe internal bleeding if he suffered an injury on the basketball court.

Source: Cedars-Sinai