Conflicting reports have NATASHA RICHARDSON dead, dying, brain dead or suffering from TALK AND DIE SYNDROME
NATASHA RICHARDSON has tragically been declared brain dead, according to sources close to Richardson and her family, and they are reportedly preparing to take the actress off life support.
It seems that what appeared to be a simple fall during a ski run has become a tragedy after NATASHA RICHARDSON's headache apparently turned into cerebral hemorrhaging.
NATASHA RICHARDSON's husband, Liam Neeson, is by Natasha's bedside at a New York hospital, along with her mother, children and possibly other family members.
A close friend of the family tells People Magazine of NATASHA RICHARDSON's condition: "There is no chance...It is a fact that her heart is beating but she is brain dead."
Doctors have described NATASHA RICHARDSON's condition as a "leakage of blood between the brain and skull" and other doctors have said that her brain may have suffered pressurized swelling.
Another report has called NATASHA RICHARDSON's condition an Acute Subdural Hematoma, which is a form of traumatic brain injury in which blood gathers within the inner meningeal layer of the dura (the outer protective covering of the brain). Subdural hematomas are usually the result of a serious head injury. Acute subdural hematomas are among the deadliest of all head injuries. The bleeding fills the brain area very rapidly, leaving little room for the brain, and are associated with brain injury.
Now the family of NATASHA RICHARDSON will have to decide if they will take her off life support.
"It's not official yet, but they basically will detach her," a friend revealed to the press.
Neeson and NATASHA RICHARDSON have two sons, 13-year-old Michael and 12-year-old Daniel.
Other source say
A day after award-winning actress NATASHA RICHARDSON was hospitalized in serious condition following a skiing accident in Canada, more details have emerged on how the actress was hurt.
According to CNN, NATASHA RICHARDSON — who was transferred on Tuesday (March 17) to an undisclosed location in the United States after receiving treatment at a Montreal, Quebec, hospital — fell on a beginners' ski trail Monday during a lesson at the Station Mont Tremblant resort.
The actress was accompanied by a ski instructor at the time of her fall, and that person called the ski patrol, according to a statement released by the resort. "She did not show any visible sign of injury, but the ski patrol followed strict procedures and brought her back to the bottom of the slope and insisted she should see a doctor," the statement reads.
The instructor accompanied NATASHA RICHARDSON, 45, back to her hotel, but about an hour after the fall, she reported "not feeling good," according to the statement, and an ambulance was called. She was taken to a local hospital and then transferred to Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, where she appears to have spent the night. The statement did not offer any details on NATASHA RICHARDSON's condition or injuries, though People has reported that she is in serious condition with head trauma.
A spokesperson from the resort told People that NATASHA RICHARDSON, known for her award-winning stage work and movie roles in "The Parent Trap" and "Nell," was "laughing and joking, and she walked to her room on her own" following the fall. The magazine also reported that NATASHA RICHARDSON was not wearing a helmet during the lesson. The spokesperson said NATASHA RICHARDSON did not hit anything or anyone before coming to a stop and that there were no cuts, bleeding or other external signs of injury.
On Tuesday afternoon, TMZ reported that an unidentified hospital source said NATASHA RICHARDSON was sedated and suffering from brain swelling.
NATASHA RICHARDSON is married to actor Liam Neeson, who reportedly flew to be by her side from the Toronto set of his current project, "Chloe."
While other reports mention TALK AND DIE SYNDROME
According to reports, Natasha Richardson may have suffered from TALK AND DIE SYNDROME, a rare but critical result of minor head injury.
The condition, though uncommon, can cause anyone with a bump to the head to rapidly deteriorate, thus the name “talk and die”. Following NATASHA RICHARDSON’s accident, there were no visible signs of injury. Richardson started feeling poorly one hour after her skiing accident, and was sent to the hospital.
In NATASHA RICHARDSON’s case, reports of her medical condition, within an hour after hitting her head during a skiing accident, seem to indicate she suffered from an epidural hemorrhage. Bleeding in the brain occurs rapidly, in patients with “talk and die” syndrome, leading to loss of consciousness and brain damage.
Dr. Steven Flanagan, director of Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine at New York University’s Langone Medical Center told FOX news, “What this implies is that someone hits their head and they are seemingly ok initially, but then they get a rapid collection of blood - usually called epidural hemorrhage - and that means bleeding between the skull and the brain.”
Dr. Flanagan says he can only speculate that NATASHA RICHARDSON’s critical condition that happened so rapidly is the result of TALK AND DIE SYNDROME. Other causes of epidural hemorrhage include brain aneurysm, abnormalities of the blood vessels, or bleeding disorders. Symptoms include sudden and severe headache, dizziness, and loss of balance, nausea, projectile vomiting and other neurologic symptoms.
Whether or not NATASHA RICHARDSON did suffer from TALK AND DIE SYNDROME is only speculative at this point. TALK AND DIE SYNDROME can be lethal, and only occurs in a small number of head injuries. Early diagnosis and rapid intervention is crucial for survival.
A little more information on TALK AND DIE SYNDROME
Abstract
‘Talk and die patients’ describes a small number of patients who present with a mild head injury (Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS] 13–15) and then subsequently deteriorate and die from intracranial causes. We analysed the medical records of all those adult patients whose primary diagnosis as the cause of death was head injury, as determined by the coroner, who were admitted to a major Australian trauma centre between January 1994 and December 2003 (a 10-year period). The clinical profile of those patients who fulfilled the criteria of ‘talk and die’ were documented, including age, mode of injury, initial GCS, lucid interval, CT scan reports, operation performed, post mortem findings and intracranial cause of death. Factors considered potentially contributory to the patients’ deterioration, such as delays in CT scanning or patient transfer, coagulopathy or hypoxic episodes were also noted. The incidence of ‘talk and die’ patients was 2.6% (15 out of 569) overall and the annual incidence did not significantly alter over the 10-year period of the study. The small number of patients precludes inferences regarding causal relationships, although potentially preventable factors, which could have been contributory to patient deterioration, were identified.
Keywords: Head injury; Review; ‘Talk and die’