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DEC 31: Latest quotes from the doctors suggest Michael Schumacher’s condition is rather stable after the surgery.
“We were able to carry out a scan without any unnecessary risk – and it showed a few signs that he is relatively stable,” says one of the doctor.
Schumacher underwent a “surgical intervention” during the night.
“We have a few signs to feel that the situation is better controlled than it was yesterday.”
“A new brain scan was taken and there was a slight improvement.
“A new scan was carried out this morning and it shows slight improvement.”
“It was a difficult decision to make [to operate], but we decided to eliminate a hematoma.
“The level of inter-cranial pressure have improved. The scan does show there are other legions,” says the surgeon.
He adds they are being regularly monitored.
The surgical intervention took two hours.
“The situation is better controlled than it was yesterday. We are unable to say he’s out of danger, however we have gained a bit of time with regard to developments,” Professor Payen adds.
But once again the coming hours are still critical hours when it comes to strategy.”
“The surgical intervention allowed us to control the situation and this morning it is slightly better than yesterday.
“In intensive care, things can go well and bad very quickly. We’re gaining a bit of time,” Professor Payen adds.
Is his wife at his bedside, a report asks:
“His family are still here,” another official says. His wife and two children.
“We’re still concerned and we’re still worried. We can’t tell ourselves we’ve won.
“The situation is slightly better over the last 24 hours, but we must be realistic.”
Professor Payen says: “We haven’t reduced the treatment. He still remains in a coma.
“We still have some other treatments that have to remain.”
“No forecasts for the moment,” Professor Payen adds.
Schumacher will not be transferred to Germany at the moment.
“With the support that we have from a large medical community, we believe we should keep him here,” he says.
“We do have a medical strategy, which is to correct a number of anomalies that continue.
“We want to give ourselves some time which was not the case yesterday.”
“The intervention took place at 22:00 last night,” the surgeon says.
He says the family were, of course, consulted ahead of surgery.
“We tell the family what the risks are, what the potential risks are, before a final decision is made.”
The former FIA Medical Delegate for the F1 World Championship Dr Gary Hartstein shared his knowledge about Schumacher’s injury on his blog. He said:
“We’re all going to be hearing a lot about intracranial pressure over the next hours and days, so I thought it would be useful to understand a bit about it. Here we go. The brain is enclosed in a rigid closed box. Since the volume of the box is fixed in adults, the addition of any extra “stuff” won’t take up more space, it’ll increase the pressure. What kind of “stuff”? Well in this case, at least yesterday, the extra stuff was a blood clot. This clot now has crammed itself into the same snug volume as the brain, kinda like when your kids jump into bed with you. The pressure goes up. Treatment is obvious – take out the clot!”
•Despite the helmet he was wearing at the time of the accident he arrived with lesions on the right-side of the brain so the crash, they conclude, must have taken place at high-speed. He was in an agitated state and was not responding to questions.
•At the moment the doctors are trying to keep Schumacher’s body temperature between 34 and 35 degrees and are working to reduce outside stimuli and keep oxygen to the brain.
•The doctors say that he “wouldn’t be here now” if he had not been wearing a helmet. They also state that every year they deal with similar accidents involving skiiers in this resort.
•There are no plans for a second operation and further updates will be given as and when there are any developments.
•It is possible that his physical condition as an athlete may help him in the fight.
•Once again the doctors say he is an extremely serious condition but it is far too early to say anything as far as prognosis is concerned.
•He has been placed in an artificial coma while they try to reduce the pressure on his brain. Contrary to earlier reports Schumacher has been operated only only once. Doctors say they are working on an hour-to-hour basis.
•The operation last night got rid of the haematoma but exposed “various bilateral lesions”. At this point he was admitted to intensive care.
The press conference in Grenoble is starting right now:
In the forthcoming press statement, the doctors have revealed that Schumacher, despite being operated once last night, continues to be in serious condition.
The seven-times Formula One champion Michael Schumacher is in a coma after being involved in a skiing accident in France.
The 44-year-old crashed while skiing off-piste in the resort of Meribel on Sunday and was immediately transited to the University Hospital of Grenoble. The hospital spokesman Jean-Marc Grenier confirmed that the German had suffered a severe head injury and was in a critical condition.
