| Submit your comments on this article |
| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Sharon to be *kept *in coma for 72 hours |
| 2006-01-05 |
| Edited for new info. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon could be sedated for up to three days as doctors fight to keep him alive after emergency brain surgery for his massive stroke, a hospital official said Thursday. Dr. Shlomo Mor-Yosef, director general of Hadassah Hospital, said Sharon would remain in deep sedation and on a respirator for at least two and possibly three days to allow him to "recover from severe trauma." The treatment would decrease pressure in Sharon's skull, and after the sedation period, doctors hope to gradually awaken him, Mor-Yosef said. Sharon's pupils were responding to light, "which means the brain is functioning," Mor-Yosef said at a news conference. Other doctors not involved in his treatment said this was a positive sign of independent brain activity. Mor-Yosef said the surgery was carried out on the right side of Sharon's brain. That could make it less likely that his speech and comprehension would be impaired. The doctor said it was too early to assess whether there would be any paralysis. A brain scan after surgery showed that the bleeding had been stopped, and he was transferred to the intensive care unit, Mor-Yosef said earlier in the day. In the March, 2005 election, Sharon was to face off against Likud's candidate, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Amir Peretz, the union leader who recently took control of the dovish Labor Party. Olmert, who could emerge as Sharon's successor as head of Kadima, would likely have a far tougher time in the election than Sharon. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |