Since he is such a legend of the sport.. I decided it was maybe best to create a thread just for Michael.

Before I post anything.. I just want to wish him and his family well during this tragic time!

Doctors say Michael Schumacher's condition 'extremely serious'
By Jonathan Noble Monday, December 30th 2013, 10:39 GMT
www.autosport.com

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Michael Schumacher remains in an induced coma and his critical condition has been described by doctors as 'extremely serious' following his skiing accident on Sunday.

The seven-time world champion suffered a severe head injury after hitting his head on a rock, and is currently undergoing treatment in a hospital in Grenoble.

During a press conference on Monday morning, the doctors looking after Schumacher made it clear just how serious Schumacher's injuries were, and said it was too early to offer a prognosis.

Professor Jean-Francois Payen said: "I would say that this accident was particularly serious and was dealt with immediately at our hospital.

"He was immediately operated on after a brain scan and afterwards his condition is critical.

"As far as cerebral care [is concerned], all the recommended treatments have been introduced, but for the moment we are not able to express ourselves with regard to Michael Schumacher's future.

"He is in a critical condition and his condition is said to be extremely serious. He is in intensive care."

The medical team confirmed that Schumacher was being kept in an induced coma to help his chances of recovery, having being operated on after it was found he had suffered cerebral contusion and edema. He has also suffered lesions to his brain.

The severity of Schumacher's injuries and his current condition means doctors are unable to make any predictions about whether or not the German will be able to make a full recovery.

Payen added: "We are currently not able to talk about after effects. We are talking about treatments and working hour-by-hour.

"We are going to try to gain time, and try to give ourselves some time. The treatments that are going to be introduced, we know what we are hoping for from these treatments.

"But currently I am not able to give you any more information, and cannot tell you what direction we are going in or what prognosis we are going to have."

Doctors do believe that Schumacher's fitness should help his chances of recovering though.

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Helmet helped protect Michael Schumacher in skiing accident
By Jonathan Noble Monday, December 30th 2013, 11:04 GMT
www.autosport.com

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Michael Schumacher would not have made it to hospital after his skiing accident if he had not been wearing a helmet, doctors have revealed.

The seven-time world champion remains in a critical condition in a French hospital after hitting his head during a fall on Sunday.

Although he has suffered severe injuries, the medical team looking after the German said during a press conference on Monday that the incident would likely have been fatal if he had not worn head protection.

Professor Jean-Francois Payen from the Grenoble hospital said: "We believe that taking into consideration the very violent shock, his helmet did protect him of course.

"Somebody having this kind of accident without the helmet would not have got to here."

Payen added that judging by the extent of the injuries that Schumacher suffered, it was clear his impact with rocks had not been at slow speed.

"Taking into consideration what we have observed, that despite a helmet he arrived with lesions that were quite severe, the shock must have taken place at high speed."

Professor Stephan Chabardes said that the injuries suggested that Schumacher had hit the rocks with the right hand side of his head.

"I did tell you there were a number of serious lesions, but I am not going to tell you any details," he said.

"The impact was on the right side - he fell on his side.

"At the time of the accident he was agitated, but not responding to questions.

"He did not have a normal neurological reaction."

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A good article for those who are not familiar with the brain.. This may explain why surgery was necessary.


Intracranial Pressure (ICP) - What, How, and Why

taken from: http://formerf1doc.wordpress.com/2013/12...at-how-and-why/

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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!

Another “extra” element which can try to stuff itself into the skull is the brain itself. Remember that what we call the brain actuall contains three things: brain tissue, cerebrospinal fluid (or CSF), and the blood volume contained in the arteries, veins and capillaries of the brain. An abnormal increase in the volume of any of these “compartments” can, if big enough, lead to increased pressure. In Michael’s case, what we don’t want to have happen is to see the brain tissue itself swell. This would mean the brain cells themselves are not maintaining their volume, implying a severe level of injury. This kind of edema (swelling) is also harder to treat. Here, one attempts to optimise the flow of CSF and blood return to the heart by nursing the patient 30° head up. The brain needs to be properly perfumed with blood containing the right amounts of oxygen and glucose to maintain healthy cellular metabolism. If the pressure is much too high, the patient will be deeply sedated in order to protect the brain by decreasing its metabolic requirements. Lastly, the neurosurgeon can remove a large flap of skull bone. The “box” is now open, the pressure is now normal, and the swelling now expresses itself as a brain that is actually swollen without many of the deadly side effects of elevated ICP. This extreme measure, regularly carried out with severe head injury, is called a decompressive craniectomy.

Why is elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) bad?

There are at least 3 reasons. First is that elevated ICP means something bad has happened to the brain. This primary injury, whatever it is, has already done damage and that’s of concern. Second, this pressure acts to compress the blood vessels nourishing the brain. The higher the ICP, the worse the blood flow. So there’s a vicious circle: the ICP goes up, blood flow down. The cells suffer from lowered oxygen delivery and start to swell, making the ICP worse. Bad news. The third reason is mechanical. The brain is held in place in the skull by tough sheaths, between the hemispheres, and between the brain and the cerebellum. When the ICP goes much too high, it can actually force the brain to slide under one or the other of these partitions, usually with catastrophic consequences.

Hope this helps!

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Another article from the 'former F1 Doc'

"The Monday Press Conference"
http://formerf1doc.wordpress.com/2013/12...ess-conference/

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First off, this press conference was rather more reassuring than what I expected. I’ll admit that I feared an announcement of a second operation for persistently elevated intracranial pressure (ICP), and the fact that that’s not been needed is good.

So what do we know now? We know that besides keeping Michael deeply asleep, they’ve also slightly lowered his body temperature. This is part of the strategy to optimise the brain’s metabolic state. Along with increasing the delivery of “good stuff” to the brain, reducing the temperature reduces the brain’s need for stuff. Therefore the supply:consumption relation is rendered more favorable.

We’ve’ been told that Michael has bilateral lesions. This mean the brain is wounded in both hemispheres. That shouldn’t surprise us. This was a hard hit. What kind of “lesions”? While we haven’t been told exactly, we can assume a mix of three types. First, the hematoma itself. This is a collection of blood that can be evacuated. That’s been done, and Michael will be examined and scanned regularly in order to detect the formation of any new hematomas, or re-accumulation of the original one.

Next are contusions. These are basically black-and-blue marks in the brain. They result from blunt forces, and consist of areas of swelling and blood that’s seeped out of the vessels into the tissues – just like when you hit your arm. In the brain, as elsewhere, that blood gets absorbed, and the damage heals. Usually fine, but sometimes leaving small cavities behind.

The third type of lesions are at the microscopic level. They consist of damage to the bundles of “cables” (axons) connecting groups of brain cells. This type of damage isn’t readily visible using standard imaging, but is often associated with “poor neurological outcome”. These lesions aren’t treated specifically; rather, they are managed by classic neuro intensive care principles – maximise brain happiness and avoid brain unhappiness.

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good that there are small improvements, hope it now keeps going that way

I'm a little worried to hear he needed a 2nd surgery to evacuate a hematoma (blood in the brain). If anyone read the 'former f1 doc' article above, he stated that it was a positive prognosis that Schumi did NOT require a 2nd surgery on Day #2 after the accident. Hopefully the bleeding is very localized and he won't require any further surgical intervention..

He still needs time. Anyone have news regarding if they'll keep him in an induced coma for another 24 hours?