NEW YORK — Tony-winning actress Natasha Richardson died of a brain injury after falling on a ski slope, an autopsy found Thursday.
The cause of death was epidural hematoma — bleeding between the skull and the brain’s covering — said Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the New York City medical examiner’s office. Richardson was not wearing a helmet, and the death was ruled an accident.
An epidural hematoma is often caused by a skull fracture. The bleeding causes a blood clot that puts pressure on the brain. That pressure can force the brain downward to press on the brain stem that controls breathing and other vital functions, causing coma or death.
Richardson, 45, died Wednesday at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan after falling at the Mont Tremblant resort in Quebec on Monday.
Richardson said she felt fine after her spill but became ill later and complained of a headache. Doctors say patients with brain injuries sometimes have what’s called a “lucid interval” where they act fine for an hour or more as the brain slowly, silently swells or bleeds.
Symptoms include headache; loss of consciousness; vomiting; problems seeing, speaking or moving; confusion; and drainage of a clear fluid from the nose or mouth. Emergency surgery is often needed to drain the blood or remove the clot.
Yves Coderre, director of operations at the emergency-services company that sent paramedics to the Mont Tremblant resort where Richardson fell, told Toronto-based The Globe and Mail newspaper Wednes- day that the paramedics who responded were told they were not needed.
“They never saw the patient,” Coderre said. “So they turned around.”
Coderre said another ambulance was called later to Richardson’s luxury hotel. By that point, her condition had gotten worse and she was rushed to a hospital.
“This is a very treatable condition if you’re aware of what the problem is and the patient is quickly transferred to a hospital,” said Dr. Keith Siller of New York University Langone Medical Center. “But there is very little time to correct this.”
