Brain Hemorrhage May Explain Natasha Richardson's Condition
Mar. 18 -- WEDNESDAY, March 18 (HealthDay News) -- Reports that actress Natasha Richardson may have suffered critical brain damage after a seemingly minor fall on a Canadian ski slope on Tuesday have many people wondering how this could happen.
But experts say these types of incidents can lead to injuries from as relatively benign as a concussion, to potentially lethal brain hemorrhages.
"If you take the name Natasha Richardson out of the picture and ask how a neurosurgeon would think of a case where someone has a fall which seems fairly minor and then deteriorates a few hours later, quite a few things would go through the surgeon's differential thinking," explained Dr. Arno Fried, chairman of neurosurgery at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey. "It's not an uncommon scenario."
A worse-case scenario would be bleeding either on the surface or deep inside the brain, Fried said.
And this does fit with many of the details of Richardson's accident that are known at this time. According to news reports, the 45-year-old award-winning actress fell during a beginner skiing lesson Tuesday afternoon at the Mont Tremblant ski resort north of Montreal. She was not wearing a helmet.
Richardson suffered no immediately apparent injuries and was able to walk and talk right after the accident. "She was awake and alive and laughing and breathing," Catherine Lacasse, the public relations supervisor for Mont Tremblant Resorts, told Bloomberg News. "She refused to see a doctor. She said she was fine and everything was OK."
However, Richardson reported a headache about an hour after the mishap and her condition deteriorated. She was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital, then transferred to Hopital du Sacre-Coeur de Montreal and then flown Tuesday afternoon to New York City, where she is reportedly receiving care at Lenox Hill Hospital.
News reports all suggest that Richardson's condition is extremely grave, with various sources saying she is in a coma, or on life support, or brain-dead.
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