HEART EXPERT: A VIRUS OR ILLNESS COULD HAVE STRUCK KILLER BLOW TO STAR

A VIRUS or illness could have been the trigger that caused George’s weakened heart to fail, a specialist said yesterday.

Dr Balvinder Wasan, 47, consultant cardiologist at London Bridge Hospital, said dilated cardiomyopathy increased the risk of an abnormal heart rhythm. He said: “This can kill people suddenly.

“The terminal event would have been an abnormal heart rhythm but what led to that would be speculation.”

He said dilated cardiomyopathy could be caused by alcohol or drugs but myocarditis also implied his heart muscle was inflamed.

He said: “This makes it more likely that it was an acute event. Maybe he caught a virus or suffered from an illness in his last few days.

“This could have weakened his

heart muscle and caused the terminal heart abnormality.

“Often people don’t know they have this condition and it is possible people live with this for months, even years, before it is picked up.

“They might be breathless, feel dizzy or faint, people can be very unwell but sometimes it is not picked up.”

Fatty liver, he explained, was common in patients with coronary artery disease.

He said: “It may suggest he actually had coronary disease where the arteries of his heart were narrowed.

“But fatty liver is fairly common with our modern diets and alcohol intake.”

Andrew Langford, chief executive of the British Liver Trust, said: “Many people in the United Kingdom are unaware of the risk factors that cause liver disease.

“More than one in five of us is at risk and in the early stages there are no symptoms.

“It is important that all of us are aware of the risk factors.”