Ditka Treated For Heart Ailment

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

February 10, 1999 / 8:12 PM EST / CBS Sportsline

New Orleans Saints coach Mike Ditka plans to have further testing done on his heart as a precautionary measure after receiving treatments earlier this month to correct an irregular heartbeat.

Ditka, 59, revealed his most recent heart problem Tuesday during an interview in Chicago. He gave no indication that his recent condition will prevent him from coaching a third season with the Saints.

Ditka said he will have an angiogram performed soon to check for possible blockage in his heart and the valves and arteries that surround it. The treatment he received Feb. 2 was an electric shocking of the heart used to correct irregular beats.

"I want to get an angiogram and then make sure I don't have any blockage," Ditka said. "If I have blockage, then I have to get done what has to be done, whether they have to bypass it.

"I feel good. But I'm not going to assume anything, because Dan (Reeves, Atlanta's coach) felt good. Then all of a sudden he didn't feel good."

Reeves had quadruple heart bypass surgery performed Dec. 14, one day after experiencing unusual sensations in his neck and chest during a game against Ditka and the Saints in the Superdome.

Ditka experienced a fluttering sensation in his chest about two weeks ago during the week preceding the Super Bowl, Ditka's wife, Diana, said.

Ditka was examined by a cardiologist recommended by Saints team physician Dr. Charles Brown, Diana Ditka said, and the irregular heartbeat was detected.

The Saints coach was placed on blood thinners in preparation for the Feb. 2 procedure, known as cardioversion.

"What happens is your heart flutters," Mrs. Ditka said. "So it gives you a little bit of a sensation in there. It's like an anxiety attack. That's what he was feeling. And that's why he decided to get checked. But it was not like heart or chest pains or anything like that. It was just a little bit of an anxiety attack. He had an irregular heartbeat, and they shocked it to get it back to normal.

"It's a common thing when you have a heart disease, which he has. It's not major, and it only took a couple of hours to do it. He felt fine afterward. This is totally preventative medicine, really."

On Nov. 2, 1988, Ditka suffered a heart attack while he was coach of the Chicago Bears. The attack required an angioplasty procedure to clear a small blocked valve located in the rear of his heart.

Ditka missed just one game before returning to the sidelines and then completed a 12-4 season in which he was named NFL coach of the year.

Diana Ditka said her husband has been remiss in having regular medical checkups since joining the Saints on Jan. 28, 1997. ut his current situation is nothing that will prevent him from coaching this season.