FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Ryan Westmoreland, a 19-year-old outfielder and Rhode Island native widely considered to be the best position prospect in the Red Sox system, is scheduled to undergo brain surgery Tuesday for an unusual congenital condition that carries significant risk of neurological damage and is potentially life-threatening.
Westmoreland will undergo surgery Tuesday in Arizona, the team announced Saturday night, to remove a "cavernous malformation of the brain."
The condition was discovered, according to a team source, after Westmoreland began experiencing headaches and exhibiting other neurological symptoms, including numbness. He left the team's minor league camp on March 4, according to a statement released by the team, and was diagnosed the next day at Massachusetts General Hospital. After the Red Sox flew him around the country for consultations with three specialists, the decision was made to have surgery, which is to be performed by Dr. Robert Spetzler of the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Ariz.
Westmoreland is in Arizona now with his entire family, including his parents, Ron and Robin, according to a source close to the family.
The malformation is located on the brain stem, according to multiple sources, and there has been an episode of bleeding in the brain. Typically, any further bleeding could cause severe neurological damage, according to Dr. Joseph Maroon, the vice chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and team neurosurgeon for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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