Schumacher 'shows improvement'
Former F1 champion has second
operation after ski accident as offical confirms helmet split in two
when he fell
- Journalist disguised as priest tried to enter room
- Update: summary of what the doctors said
- Schumacher kept in state of hypothermia
- Disaster lurked in pristine Alpine resort of Méribel
- Schumacher shows improvement, doctors say
- theguardian.com,
Neurosurgeon Professor
Stephan Chabardes, Professor Jean-Francois Payen, and Professor
Emmanuel Gay. Photograph: Alex Grimm/Bongarts/Getty Images
The former Formula one champion Michael Schumacher
has undergone a second operation to treat brain injuries sustained in
an off-piste skiing accident, as his doctors said they had seen a
"slight improvement" in his condition.
In a press conference at the university hospital in Grenoble where the seven-times world champion was airlifted on Sunday, doctors said they had decided, in conjunction with the Schumacher family, to carry out more surgery following a modest improvement in his condition and a brain scan on Monday afternoon.
Michael Schumacher. Photograph: Diego Azubel/EPA
The medical update came as the prosecutor's office in the Alpine
resort town of Albertville, which is overseeing the investigation into
Schumacher's accident, confirmed that his helmet had split in two when
he fell. "It broke apart in two pieces," an official from the
prosecutor's office told the Guardian.
However, the official said it was too early to infer that the helmet had broken because of the high speed at which Schumacher was skiing downhill. "It's too early to draw conclusions about excessive speed," said the official. "It will take two or three more days to know exactly what happened."
During the operation, which began at 10pm and lasted two hours, a haematoma was removed from Schumacher's brain and the intracranial pressure further decreased. A fresh scan carried out on Tuesday morning had confirmed "signs … of slight improvement," said Jacqueline Hubert, director of the hospital.
But the doctors warned that the driver's condition remained critical, with more bruising and more lesions that had yet to be treated. He remains in a medically induced coma following the accident, in which he fell and hit his head on rocks in the ski resort of Méribel.
"The situation is better controlled than yesterday," said chief anaesthesiologist Jean-Francois Payen. "We cannot say he's out of danger but today … we have bought a bit of time."
The decision to go ahead with the operation had been taken in conjunction with the Schumacher family. His wife, Corinna, two children and brother are all at the hospital with him, said Gérard Vaillaint, a leading brain surgeon and friend of the German driver.
Vaillaint, with the Grenoble medical team, refused to enter into prognostics and said any attempt to predict Schumacher's future, even over the next few days, was pointless.
Emmanuel Gay, chief of neurology at the hospital, said: "We cannot say it's over. We can say there are highs and lows … but it's a bit better than it was yesterday."
Gay said the medical team had been "a bit surprised" by their patient's modest improvement. "But, careful," he added, "there is still a long way to go."
Schumacher, 44, has been in the hospital in the eastern French city since Sunday at 12.40pm, when he was airlifted from a smaller hospital in the Alpine town of Moutiers. He had been skiing down an unmarked slope near Méribel with his 14-year-old son when he fell and hit his head.
On Monday the doctors treating him said his condition was "life-threatening" and said they were working on an hour-by-hour basis to save him. On Tuesday, despite the signs of improvement and a second successful operation, they insisted it would be premature to say the battle was over.
The scan had revealed multiple haematoma on Schumacher's brain. The second operation had been carried out to remove one of them which, on the left of the brain, was accessible and removal of it did not present large risks.
For the moment, the doctors said, there was no question of Schumacher being woken from the medically induced coma, which is designed to ease the swelling on his brain. Equally, added Payen, there was no immediate possibility of his being transferred to another hospital nearer to home.
The gravity of the retired champion's condition has prompted figures from across the sporting world to express their shock at the accident and solidarity with a man regarded as one of the greatest racing drivers in Formula One's history.
The current world champion, Sebastian Vettel, a fellow German who has been dubbed "Baby Schumi" by his country's media, led a chorus of support and concern. "I am shocked and hope that he gets better as quickly as possible. I wish his family much strength," he said on Monday.
The British driver Jenson Button, another former world champion, said: "My thoughts are with Michael Schumacher at this tough time. Michael more than anyone has the strength to pull through this."
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said she was "extremely shocked along with millions of Germans".
Schumacher is thought to have been skiing downhill between two marked pistes below the jagged peaks of the Dent de Burgin when he fell, hitting the right side of his head.
Investigators from the Gendarmerie based in the resort of Bourg St Maurice were on the mountainside on Monday attempting to establish the exact circumstances of the accident, which occurred at an elevation of 2,100 metres.
On Monday the prosecutor Patrice Quincy, based in Albertville, the home of the 1992 Winter Olympics, told the Guardian: "The victim lost his balance and banged his head extremely violently on small rocks concealed by the snow."
In a press conference at the university hospital in Grenoble where the seven-times world champion was airlifted on Sunday, doctors said they had decided, in conjunction with the Schumacher family, to carry out more surgery following a modest improvement in his condition and a brain scan on Monday afternoon.
Michael Schumacher. Photograph: Diego Azubel/EPA
The medical update came as the prosecutor's office in the Alpine
resort town of Albertville, which is overseeing the investigation into
Schumacher's accident, confirmed that his helmet had split in two when
he fell. "It broke apart in two pieces," an official from the
prosecutor's office told the Guardian.However, the official said it was too early to infer that the helmet had broken because of the high speed at which Schumacher was skiing downhill. "It's too early to draw conclusions about excessive speed," said the official. "It will take two or three more days to know exactly what happened."
During the operation, which began at 10pm and lasted two hours, a haematoma was removed from Schumacher's brain and the intracranial pressure further decreased. A fresh scan carried out on Tuesday morning had confirmed "signs … of slight improvement," said Jacqueline Hubert, director of the hospital.
But the doctors warned that the driver's condition remained critical, with more bruising and more lesions that had yet to be treated. He remains in a medically induced coma following the accident, in which he fell and hit his head on rocks in the ski resort of Méribel.
"The situation is better controlled than yesterday," said chief anaesthesiologist Jean-Francois Payen. "We cannot say he's out of danger but today … we have bought a bit of time."
The decision to go ahead with the operation had been taken in conjunction with the Schumacher family. His wife, Corinna, two children and brother are all at the hospital with him, said Gérard Vaillaint, a leading brain surgeon and friend of the German driver.
Vaillaint, with the Grenoble medical team, refused to enter into prognostics and said any attempt to predict Schumacher's future, even over the next few days, was pointless.
Emmanuel Gay, chief of neurology at the hospital, said: "We cannot say it's over. We can say there are highs and lows … but it's a bit better than it was yesterday."
Gay said the medical team had been "a bit surprised" by their patient's modest improvement. "But, careful," he added, "there is still a long way to go."
Schumacher, 44, has been in the hospital in the eastern French city since Sunday at 12.40pm, when he was airlifted from a smaller hospital in the Alpine town of Moutiers. He had been skiing down an unmarked slope near Méribel with his 14-year-old son when he fell and hit his head.
On Monday the doctors treating him said his condition was "life-threatening" and said they were working on an hour-by-hour basis to save him. On Tuesday, despite the signs of improvement and a second successful operation, they insisted it would be premature to say the battle was over.
The scan had revealed multiple haematoma on Schumacher's brain. The second operation had been carried out to remove one of them which, on the left of the brain, was accessible and removal of it did not present large risks.
For the moment, the doctors said, there was no question of Schumacher being woken from the medically induced coma, which is designed to ease the swelling on his brain. Equally, added Payen, there was no immediate possibility of his being transferred to another hospital nearer to home.
The gravity of the retired champion's condition has prompted figures from across the sporting world to express their shock at the accident and solidarity with a man regarded as one of the greatest racing drivers in Formula One's history.
The current world champion, Sebastian Vettel, a fellow German who has been dubbed "Baby Schumi" by his country's media, led a chorus of support and concern. "I am shocked and hope that he gets better as quickly as possible. I wish his family much strength," he said on Monday.
The British driver Jenson Button, another former world champion, said: "My thoughts are with Michael Schumacher at this tough time. Michael more than anyone has the strength to pull through this."
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said she was "extremely shocked along with millions of Germans".
Schumacher is thought to have been skiing downhill between two marked pistes below the jagged peaks of the Dent de Burgin when he fell, hitting the right side of his head.
Investigators from the Gendarmerie based in the resort of Bourg St Maurice were on the mountainside on Monday attempting to establish the exact circumstances of the accident, which occurred at an elevation of 2,100 metres.
On Monday the prosecutor Patrice Quincy, based in Albertville, the home of the 1992 Winter Olympics, told the Guardian: "The victim lost his balance and banged his head extremely violently on small rocks concealed by the snow."
- copy http://www.theguardian.com
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário