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Doctors confirm: the general clinical picture of the Paralympic specimen, in a pharacological coma, appears stable, but the severity of the neurological picture must be investigated, which will be assessed at the beginning of the next week
Remains in very serious albeit stable conditions, intubated and in a pharmacological coma in the intensive care unit Alex Zanardi , the Paralympic champion who in the afternoon of 19 June underwent a serious traffic accident while on board his handbike he was driving the state highway 146 between Pienza and San Quirico d'Orcia, during one of the stages of Tricoloured Objective , relay race in which Paralympic athletes participate in handbikes, bikes and Olympic wheelchairs.
The note issued by the university hospital Le Scotte di Siena gives a first picture of the situation: «the patient, subjected to a delicate neurosurgery on the evening of 19 June , and subsequently transferred to intensive care, has stable hemodynamic and metabolic parameters . It is intubated and supported by artificial ventilation while the neurological picture remains serious “.
What worries the health workers most are the damage suffered at the craniofacial level. More precise indications on the conditions of Alex Zanardi came from Professor Sabino Scolletta , director of the Emergency department of the hospital of Siena who told the press: “The conditions are stable from the cardiorespiratory point of view, the patient is mechanically ventilated and the metabolic parameters remain stable. The general clinical picture is all in all good, but it is obviously to confirm the severity of the neurological picture, which will have to be assessed next week “, that is when the clinical picture will allow to remove the sedation to which the athlete is subjected.
“Fortunately, there are no injuries to the abdomen and chest,” said Professor Scolletta, reiterating that Alex's conditions are critical but stable. «In the next few days the suspension of sedation will be evaluated, but for the moment the situation remains serious and uncertain».
About what “serious” means is Professor Giuseppe Oliveri , director of Neurosurgery, who Zanardi operated on Friday to respond with a few more details: «We do not evaluate the neurological picture at this moment, it is something we will see at a distance when he wakes up, if he wakes up. Serious means that there is a situation in which one can even die, in these cases the improvements can be gradually over time, while the deteriorations can be sudden “.
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Alex Zanardi: accident with the handbike, very serious in hospital in Siena
