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Report: Sharon's doctors concealed info
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-24 15:17
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's health problems were more serious than
doctors indicated before the stroke that has left him comatose, an Israeli
newspaper reported Tuesday.
The Haaretz newspaper said Sharon had a large aneurysm in the septum
between the chambers of his heart. He also suffered from a shunt that causes
blood to flow in the wrong direction through a tiny hole in the septum, the
newspaper said.
The aneurysm is a known source of cerebral blood clots, the newspaper said.
The prime minister also had other conditions in the cardiac septum that made him
vulnerable to blood clots potentially entering his brain, the newspaper said.
After a minor stroke on Dec. 18, which was caused by a small blood clot,
Sharon's neurologist, Dr. Tamir Ben-Hur, said the 77-year-old prime minister's
condition was generally good except that he was overweight.
Blood thinners were prescribed to lessen the risk of further clotting, but
they also increased the risk of hemorrhaging in the brain.
Doctors later said Sharon had a tiny hole in his cardiac septum, which was to
have been repaired on Jan 5. On the eve of that procedure, he suffered the
second stroke.
Hadassah Hospital spokeswoman Yael Bossem-Levy dismissed the Haaretz report
as containing nothing new. "Everything that appears in the item was discussed at
the news conference" where the hole in the septum was disclosed, she said.
Sharon was put in an induced coma to heal from three brain operations, but he
remains unconscious after being weaned off sedatives last week. Outside medical
experts say Sharon's failure to regain consciousness bodes poorly for his
prospects of recovery. Sharon deputy Ehud Olmert has been acting prime
minister.
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