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Sam Champion Returns to GMA After Emergency Heart Catheterization

His experience highlights how a nuclear stress test can reveal dangerous heart blockages despite normal checkups.

Overview

  • The 64-year-old meteorologist, who returned to Good Morning America on Wednesday, said he feels well and is expected to make a full recovery.
  • Persistent shortness of breath led his doctor to order a nuclear stress test, an imaging scan of blood flow to the heart that showed a problem and triggered an urgent catheterization.
  • Doctors at Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital placed two stents to restore blood flow, and Champion thanked Dr. Stam Lerakis, Dr. Sharma and the nursing team.
  • ABC medical correspondent Dr. Tara Narula said catheterization threads a thin tube to the heart, uses dye to spot blockages, and often opens narrow arteries with a small stent.
  • Champion is urging viewers to push for further testing if symptoms continue, extending his public health advocacy that included sharing his 2024 skin cancer treatment.