
DATE: Tuesday, October 21, 1997             TAG: 9710210418

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY BRIAN J. FRENCH, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  119 lines

BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYER BACK ON COURT AFTER BEATING RARE ANEURYSM

It's March. Preston Moneyhun, a sophomore volleyball player at Salem High, returns from another match with the Tidewater Volleyball Association.

Nothing unusual about that. Even though his high school season ended four months ago, it's always volleyball season for Moneyhun.

What's unusual is the pins-and-needles tingling in his right hand, the one he uses to spike the ball.

Although he complained about it for more than a month, it didn't keep him from playing until. . .

``Preston came to me and said, `Look, Mom, this is what I was talking about,' '' said his mother, Kim Moneyhun. ``His hand had turned blue.''

When Moneyhun's parents took him to an emergency-care center, the doctor tried to take his pulse on that hand.

There was none.

An MRI and an X-ray on the arm didn't show any problems. His doctors were baffled.

Eventually, Moneyhun would become one of four people ever diagnosed with a volleyball-related aneurysm. He would have had better odds of winning the lottery and being struck by lightning in the same hour.

It would take two trips to the operating table, 28 steel coils, $100,000 and a lot of praying before Moneyhun could resume his volleyball career.

If left undetected, the aneurysm could have caused serious circulation problems and he could have been disabled.

Moneyhun, then 17, entered Sentara Norfolk General Hospital for the first time in early May, still no closer to an answer. But a hospital bed or an uncertain future didn't keep Preston from talking about volleyball.

Good thing. That's what led to the diagnosis.

``Preston would talk about volleyball all the time,'' said Dr. Martin Fogle, Preston's vascular surgeon. ``That got me to thinking.''

The result led Fogle to his computer research system, which unearthed a medical journal article about a traumatic aneurysm - a ballooning of the blood vessel - in the posterior circumflex humeral artery of the arm caused by, of all things, playing volleyball.

The article, published in the May-June 1993 edition of the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology by a group of Amsterdam doctors, said that in a few cases, blood vessels in the arm can weaken during the downward motion of the arm while spiking a volleyball. As the arm moves downward, repetitive traumas in the vessels occur, and an aneurysm begins to form.

Moneyhun underwent an artiogram - a test in which dye is injected into an artery, which is then X-rayed - to see if he might have an aneurysm.

The result: a 100 percent blockage of the brachial artery, and 4-inch blockages in the radial and ulmar arteries, confirming the aneurysm.

``In medical reports of this condition, it (the aneurysm) has been reported in only three cases related to volleyball,'' Fogle said. ``There are other circumstances in which the arm's blood vessels can be damaged - (New York Yankees pitcher) David Cone had a similar problem - but this particular aneurysm is clearly a very rare condition.''

Many doctors aren't familiar with it. Dr. Lee Rice, team physician for United States Volleyball, was unaware of the condition.

``The doctors didn't know too much about this at first, so we all learned as we went along,'' Kim Moneyhun said.

As can be expected when dealing with an unusual medical condition, there are more questions than answers.

Why isn't this type of aneurysm more common? The spiking of the ball is a normal occurrence in nearly every volleyball match, from one at a summer picnic to the Olympic gold-medal game.

Surprisingly, all four of the diagnosed cases involved professional or high-level amateur players.

Unique problems call for unique solutions.

In Preston Moneyhun's case, it called for the insertion of 28 Gianturco coils - each about two centimeters long - into the aneurysm, allowing the blood to clot normally and easing the swelling in the vessels. It's a common procedure in aneurysms of the brain, but it was the first time Fogle attempted to insert coils in the arm.

The procedure was successful, though, and Moneyhun was discharged June 12 with strict orders: Whatever you do, don't move that arm.

And so the recovery process began. . . for about an hour.

``Preston knew he wasn't supposed to move his arm,'' Kim Moneyhun said, ``But it's tough to not use your arm. He was eating dinner and he forgot about not moving his arm.''

That one slip-up sent Moneyhun back to the hospital to repair three coils, which were dislodged. Seven hours later, Moneyhun was out of the operating room.

If the coils didn't work, the only other option would have been direct bypass surgery on the arm.

But the coils did their job. And according to Fogle, who noted the other three volleyball players were able to resume their careers, Preston has no reason to fear a relapse from a particularly vicious spike.

``There was no recurrence in the previously reported cases,'' Fogle said. ``And we don't anticipate a problem with Preston playing volleyball.''

And with that, Moneyhun is right back where he was this time last year: An integral part of a Sun Devils squad ranked No. 3 in the area. And without reservations about what might come next.

``You don't know what's going to happen,'' Moneyhun said. ``But I've got to block that out. You just can't let it affect you.''

Except for not being in volleyball shape at the beginning of the season, Moneyhun's game has not been affected by the events of the past summer.

Need proof? Moneyhun had 15 kills, 14 digs and five blocks in Salem's upset of top-ranked and then-undefeated First Colonial Oct. 16.

``Preston really hasn't changed in the last year,'' Salem coach Donna Roman said. ``He came in a little out of shape, but he got back to form pretty quickly. He's just too intense not to have done so.''

``There were a lot of scary times, both for him and me,'' Kim Moneyhun said. And it was really frustrating for him during the summer, when he didn't know what was wrong with him, but he pulled through.

``A lot of parents ask me `Why?' Why let my kid play volleyball after all this? But Preston loves it too much - and he's too good at it - for me to keep him from being out there. The doctor says he'll be OK, so I don't see any reason to stop him from playing.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

L. TODD SPENCER

After two trips to the operating table, Preston Moneyhun is again an

integral part of the No. 3-ranked Salem High School volleyball team.

ANEURYSM NEARLY SPIKES CAREER

GRAPHIC

JOHN EARLE

The Virginian-Pilot

SOURCE: Atlas of Human Anatomy, Mayo Clinic Family Health Book

[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.]