LIVE Updates and Tweets: Schumacher critical after skiing accident

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.