Follow-up: Penguins forward Kindel back in Pittsburgh; fainting diagnosed as vasovagal episode, placed on injured reserve
PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania — Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas said on October 22 that forward Ben Kindel is back in Pittsburgh after being hospitalized in Salt Lake City, and is at the team's facility for treatment and testing, Reuters reported, in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
Kindel, 19, had a medical episode about 10 minutes after the team charter departed Salt Lake City on Tuesday, forcing the plane to turn around and land; team medical staff cared for him until emergency technicians from a waiting ambulance took over. Dubas revealed that Kindel fainted due to a vasovagal episode — formally vasovagal syncope, "a common, generally benign type of fainting caused by a sudden drop in blood pressure and sometimes heart rate, which temporarily reduces blood flow to the brain," according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. He was given oxygen on the aircraft and regained consciousness.
Doctors cleared Kindel to return to Pittsburgh on Wednesday, accompanied by staff who had stayed with him in Utah. The Penguins will place the 11th overall pick in the 2025 NHL draft on injured reserve and follow strict guidelines for his return; he might return to practice as soon as next week. Kindel has two goals and two assists in nine games this season, after 17 goals and 18 assists in 77 games as a rookie. Pittsburgh hosts the Florida Panthers on Thursday night.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 匹兹堡PPG Paints Arena资料照片。图片：Jleedev，CC BY-SA 4.0，经Wikimedia Commons。 / PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, file photo. Photo: Jleedev, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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