The Pittsburgh Penguins announced on Friday that defenseman Kris Letang suffered a stroke last week.
Letang, 26, will miss at least the next six weeks as he recovers. The good news is that Letang’s career does not appear to be jeopardy.
The Penguins released the following statement:
Further testing also revealed that Letang, 26, has had a very small hole in the wall of his heart since birth. This small defect in the wall is present in all individuals before birth but seals shut in most people. It is possible that the hole in the heart led to the stroke.
“Kris had one brief episode of dizziness and nausea last week,” Shero said. “We held him out of the Los Angeles game Thursday night, and when he continued to feel ill, tests conducted in Phoenix on Saturday gave us the first indication of his condition. Further testing then was conducted when he returned to Pittsburgh, and he continued to undergo a battery of tests here this week.”
