First off, I believe Gooners everywhere are praying for his full recovery. About the brain not being oxygenated, not entirely true. I'm trained in CPR and the first thing we are taught to do when we find an unresponsive, not breathing victim is to immediately administer chest compressions (30). The blood is oxygenated enough that if you keep it circulating, even artificially, it will keep the brain alive. The medical team were on him fast enough that they could keep oxygenated blood flowing to his brain using several means. However, he was participating in a physically taxing activity prior to the incident so who knows what the oxygen levels in his blood were. But really my point is that the medical staff were on him quick so I assume there was oxygen and proper care their immediately (I can't imagine it any other way).
Oxygen wasn't going to his brain. That's what a heart attack is, it's inability for whatever reason to pump blood throughout the body and get oxygenated blood to his brain. That's why he passed out. I've seen people having a heart attack. They're breathing but say they feel like they're out of breath because the heart isn't doing what it's supposed to do.
I hope you're right. Because I know of heart attack victims that have some type of brain damage because they couldn't get enough oxygen. Just hope he pulls through. On another note, is there a reason why it seems a lot of footballers recently have died from or had heart troubles? Jarque, Marc-Vivian Foe, Antonio Puerta, Matsuda, Phil O'Donnell, Miklos Feher have died. Ruben De La Red had to retire because of his heart condition. A few others have had heart attacks on the pitch and survived. Those are the ones that I can think of off of the top of my head. What the hell is going on?
It's nothing new at all. There's a certain portion of the population that are born with heart conditions or with the vulnerability to developing certain conditons. More awareness and screening have actually reduced the number of deaths by a lot, but it's still not perfect.
That's what the chest compressions are doing, at least when done properly. It's never clear, however, how effective they were in terms of keeping the circulation going until after the person recovers and is alert enough to be evaluated for possible brain damage.
This article (written by a cardiologist) says its a genetic condition relating to how the heart responds to high levels of exercise. In the affected person it causes a heart wall to thicken. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/mar/18/heart-disorder-hocum-fabrice-muamba Also, isn't cpr forcing air into the lungs and then compressing on the chest to circulate the air? Hopefully, the paramedics and doctors have equipment to do this more effiecently than breathing in the persons mouth and pressing on their chest.
Not exactly. In the normal circumstance, when you breathe, there is a gas exchange in your lung, with oxygen entering the blood stream. That freshly oxygenated blood goes into the heart and is pumped throughout the body. in CPR, the air is forced into the lungs by the person doing the resuscitation (by either blowing directly or by using something called an ambu bag). The same oxygen exchange takes place in the victim's lungs and the oxygenated blood again goes to the heart. The chest compressions squeeze on the heart just enough to force the newly oxygenated blood back out into the blood stream. There are no machines or devices that can do the pumping out in the field. There are very expensive assist devices that can be used to help with the pumping over a longer term, but they require surgery to install.
First off, prayers for Fabrice. I really hope he recovers more than words can express. On the whole medical aspect, it's tough to really decifer what happened. I work in an ICU and unfortunately there is a lot of misunderstanding of these things in how they are reported in the media. For starters, if he wasn't getting blood to his brain for two hours, he would be dead without question. Even ten minutes without proper oxygenation of the brain is detremintal. Yes you can survive but the chances are low and most likely you'll have some serious debilitation afterwards. Like others said, assuming proper CPR (including artifical respirations) was performed, he should have in theory been oxygenated. Each compression forces the heart to pump and there should be enough force to move the blood through the body. Since you are giving resue breaths in CPR too, his lungs should still be oxygenating his blood. In terms of his heart beating on it's own, that was most likely achieved with the use of a variety of emergency medications that are given in this situation. Assuming that the report above is accurate and it took two hours really worries me in regards to the outcome. The longer CPR and emergency procedures like this take, the lower the chance of survival. Two hours is a damn long time and based on my experiences, that situation usually doesn't end well. With that said, we have no clue what actually happened or what events really took place. I hope things did not occur as they are being reported and that Fabrice is able to recover. In any case my prayers go out to his friends and family and the entire Bolton organization. I can't even begin to understand what all those players who worked with him day in and day out must be thinking right now. It's tragic
Yep I came here to say that. There's some movement in his limbs apparently, not sure how relevant this is, I thought he was still unconscious.
It all depends how fast you start treatment. They started CPR on him within a minute, so they were able to keep blood circulating. That gave him a fighting chance. We all have to keep praying for him.
First off, excellent news if he's been taken off of medications needed to keep his heart pumping. There is a huge of variety of different drugs taht could have been used but in any case, it's a big step that somebody is able to be taken off those drugs and their body is able to maintain a heart beat and stable vital signs. Huge positive I think. In regards to him being unconscious, that doesn't necessarily mean he is having neurological issues. Critically ill patients on life saving cardiac meds and ventilators (I'm sure he is on a vent as well) are sedated as well. He could still be, and most likely is, still heavily sedated. That doesn't mean he is having neurological issues, it is probably still far too early to tell.
Guardian UK: Fabrice Muamba is showing "small signs of improvement" for the first time since he suffered a cardiac arrest while playing for Bolton Wanderers against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane on Saturday. While the 23-year-old remains critically ill, it has emerged that the proximity of the stadium to Bethnal Green's London Chest Hospital, where he is being cared for, and the presence of the cardiologist Dr Andrew Deaner, who was at the FA Cup tie and ran on to assist the medics, saved Muamba's life. Last night his club issued a statement that revealed he was able to "breathe without the aid of a ventilator" and was also able to "respond to questions appropriately". It added: "Fabrice Muamba remains in intensive care at the London Chest Hospital. He is continuing to show signs of improvement this evening. He has also been able to recognise family members and respond to questions appropriately. "These are all positive signs of progress. However, his condition remains serious and the medical staff in intensive care will continue to monitor and treat him. His family and club would like to thank the media for continuing to respect their privacy at this time." Fingers Crossed. Best wishes to Muamba.
Thought something new happened. Might want to check before you repost. https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=25362158&postcount=35
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/mar/21/fabrice-muamba-on-the-mend The news remains good. It's great that he was able to respond to questions in such a manner so soon.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17460781 Has interviews with Bolton's doc and the doctor that ran onto the pitch and brought him to his hospital.
Unreal. He literally woke up from being dead - so glad with the recent developments. You guys think he'll ever play again? I wonder what it was like being dead for so long. We should ask him what it was like.. if he saw heaven or something.
That's what I think. We still have to find out what exactly caused his heart attack. Was is hocom, does he have an enlarged heart, was it a thrombosis, he might come back if it was just something temporary. But I would guess whatever it is, he's not coming back.