Neurologist On Bobbi Kristina Brown's Recovery: "Minutes Without Air Can Be Grim"

Since being found unresponsive in her bathtub by her husband Nick Gordon on Saturday, Bobbi Kristina Brown was immediately rushed to a hospital in Georgia, where she receives intensive care, breathing with the help of a ventilator as family gathers by her side.  





A source close to the family revealed that the only child of Whitney Houston has very little brain activity and her loved ones are "praying, hoping for the best."

Neurologist Eli Zimmerman of Massachusetts General Hospital claims her prognosis will depend on "how much oxygen her brain was getting" before Brown, 21, was found not breathing, face down in the bathtub.



"Even minutes (without air) can be grim," Zimmerman said of Brown's condition.

Patients whose brains have been lacking oxygen are typically sedated and "often kept on medications that slow down brain activity to be able to keep down the amount of energy the brain requires," Zimmerman explains, noting: "In some patients, the body temperature is dropped slightly to reduce energy requirements even more, though this is generally only done for 24 hours."

Cooling pads and blankets are commonly used to lower body temperature, an operation usually enacted for cardiac arrest patients. Zimmerman states that cardiac arrest is the most typical case for a young woman like Brown with no prior known medical conditions to be in an unresponsive state.

"Once things have stabilized, the medications that are keeping the patient sedated are decreased to be able to get an accurate assessment of how the brain is working," Zimmerman is quoted as saying. Positive indications include pupils dilating, eyes blinking and any type of physical reaction. 

For those who survive severe oxygen deprivation, "hospitalization is usually pretty long," Zimmerman declares, "as is rehabilitation, with recovery often measured in months." In the long term, patients can experience cognitive difficulties, changes in behavior and seizures.








Zimmerman has also some advice for Brown's relatives.


"I always tell families not to make decisions when they're under stress," the neurologist points out, adding: "It's okay to have doctors or nurses take care of loved ones for a few days."


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