Struve’s Heart Condition Overlooked 4 Years Ago

Stefan Struve will make his return to the UFC this Saturday against Matt Mitrione, after suffering a broken jaw to Mark Hunt, Struve was diagnosed with a leaky aortic valve which causes blood to back up into his heart, and can ultimately lead to and enlarged heart and eventually heart failure.

Fortunately for Struve, his condition was caught before the aforementioned symptoms ever occurred, however it also could have been much worse. Struve’s doctor said a different doctor overloooked the warning signs that occurred nearly four years ago when Struve had an EKG done and it was revealed that blood was leaking back into his heart, and it wasn’t until Struve fainted last year that it was revealed he had the condition.

Struve’s co-manager spoke to MMAJunkie about the overlooking saying that ‘The Skyscraper’ wasn’t suffering from any other adverse health effects at the time.

Despite all of this, Struve is healthy, and healthy enough to compete this Saturday against Matt Mitrione. Struve’s doctor, Ram Dandillaya wrote in a letter to the NSAC, obtained by MMAJunkie that:

“He does report having some (premature ventricular contractions), but these are not bothersome and they are not described as palpitations,”

“I do believe that he understands all of my concerns but at this time he has performed veral well on his stress test as well as his resting (EKG) and I think we can continue to watch him carefully,”