Mar 20 2009
How did Natasha Richardson’s head injury from a fall on the bunny slope cause her death? Epidural hematoma explanation
The tragic death of Natasha Richardson has sparked much conversation regarding head injury and how such a seemingless innocent fall could have been fatal. Natasha Richardson died from what is categorized as an epidural hematoma. An epidural hematoma is a type of head trauma that is an emergency and needs to be treated immediately, usually, with a craniotomy and evacuation of the blood surrounding the brain.
How does an epidural bleed cause death?
Your brain is housed in a skull that is immobile. There is a space between your brain and your skull called the epidural space. There is an artery that runs in the area of the temple below the skull bone called the middle meningeal artery. The area around the temple is thinner than the rest of the skull, thus, it is most susceptible to fractures. When fractures or trauma to that temporal area do occur, the artery can be damaged, causing it to bleed. Epidural bleeds are quite dangerous as they have an unique presentation.
Because a space does exist between the brain and the skull, when the fracture and damage to the vessel does occur, it takes a little bit of time before that potential space can fill with blood. However, once that potential space is filled it blood, the increased intracranial pressure will began to push on the brain - leading to death if the blood within the space is not evacuated.
Sadly, Natasha Richards presented in such a fashion. After the fall, Natasha Richardson seemed fine (at this point the artery was injured and blood was filling the potential space); she returned to her hotel room where she quickly became ill and was rushed to a hospital (at this point the intracranial pressure was increased to such a level that it was pushing on the brain most likely causing a headache, nausea, and eventually loss of consciousness.)
How to prevent such traumatic head injury?
Helmets. All individuals participating in contact sports or high speed activities, such as skiing, biking, etc, should wear a helmet in order to protect their heads from any traumatic injuries.
