Paris Olympics thread

Orange County officials said yesterday that Griffith Joyner had a
congenital brain abnormality known as cavernous angioma, said Dr. Barbara Zaias, one of
the investigators. The condition allows blood to accumulate outside normal blood vessels
in the brain or spinal tissue, and may be found in 0.25 percent of the population, she
said. Once considered rare, it has been detected more often in recent years with the
advent of CAT scans and other diagnostic tools. The seizure apparently struck during
sleep, causing Griffith Joyner's limbs to tense. It possibly wrenched her head to the
right as she lay on her stomach, said Dr. Richard Fukumoto, chief of forensics for the
Orange County sheriff and coroner. "In layman's terms, she suffocated," Fukumoto
told reporters. Explaining the term "positional asphyxia," he said her airway
was probably already constricted by the involuntary turning of her head. Pillows and
blankets on that side further hampered her oxygen supply.


During a press conference, sheriff's spokesman Lt. Hector Rivera cut
off questions about Griffith Joyner's medical history and whether the condition had been
diagnosed. The abnormality has never been associated in medical research with steroids or
any other drugs, Fukumoto said. [emphasis added]