MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Cristina Fernandez undergoes surgery to remove clot; doctors consider operation ‘low-risk’

The Argentine president arrives at the hospital where she will undergo surgery (Photo DYN)

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez (60) will undergo surgery on Tuesday morning to remove an accumulation of blood in her skull (subdural haematoma) following a blow in early August, according to a statement issued by the hospital where she is being treated.

Cristina Fernandez, 60, entered the Favaloro Foundation clinic in Buenos Aires on Monday two days after her medical team had advised her to rest for a month precisely because she had been diagnosed with a “chronic sub-dural collection”, plus cardiac arrhythmia.

A subdural haematoma is an accumulation of blood under a membrane that covers the brain. It usually occurs after a blow to the head, as apparently happened with the Argentine president on 12 August. At the time it was not informed.

However on Sunday the Argentine president complained of tingling in her left arm which prompted doctors to recommend the operation, according to the statement.

“The initial proposal of rest and observation recommended on Saturday had to be modified after President Cristina Fernández felt on Sunday a tingling sensation in her left arm.”

The statement, signed by doctors Gerardo Bozovich and Facundo Manes, added the medical team met at the Olivos presidential residency to conclude that the president had suffered “a temporary and minor loss of muscle power” in her arm.

“Considering such clinical symptoms, this team suggests a surgical intervention which basically involves the evacuation of the haematoma,” it added specifying the surgery will take place on Tuesday “in the hours of the morning.”

Cristina Fernandez’s surgery is considered low risk as it doesn’t involve contact with the brain, said Pedro Lylyk, a brain surgeon at the Eneri clinic in Buenos Aires.

“It’s a simple procedure,” Lylyk said. “She’ll be in intensive care for 24 to 48 hours and will be hospitalized for another three to four days followed by a month of recovery time.”

Nelson Castro, a doctor and journalist coincided revealing that according to his sources the blood clot is less that five millimetres, and can be easily drained, following a minor incision with no major risk for the patient.

“The surgery won’t take more than an hour and a half, she will have the best neurosurgeons in Argentina, they won’t be working under any uncommon pressure, so there should be no surprises. To complete the haematoma extraction the draining operation could be left open for another 24 hours”, said Castro.

Nevertheless he pointed out that the ‘arrhythmia’ mentioned in the first report plus the fact that the Argentine president has suffered several lipothymy episodes (which forced her to cancel some overseas trips) and in January 2012 underwent thyroid gland extraction surgery (thyroidectomy), have to be taken into account in the general diagnosis of the patient.

Vice-President Amado Boudou, who has replaced Cristina Fernandez in other occasions on Monday took over her duties and headed a couple ceremonies in President Cristina Fernandez Monday agenda. He also signed a document by which he took over the presidential duties, an unexpected move considering the initial government’s intention of letting Cristina Fernandez remain in charge.

Political adversaries campaigning for the congressional by-election of October 27, including her former cabinet chief Sergio Massa and the mayor of Buenos Aires city Mauricio Macri, as well as all leaders from the main political forces, and regional foreign heads of state, wished her well in messages posted to Twitter before the need for surgery was announced.

Following the announcement of Tuesday’s surgery Argentine political leaders reiterated their messages and some heads of state were more formal in their support.

In the August primaries, Cristina Fernandez’s ruling alliance secured just 26% of the nationwide vote, and her candidate in Buenos Aires province, the country’s largest by population, lost to Massa by five percentage points.

However Cristina Fernandez’s health may create sympathy among Argentines and reverse her slide in opinion polls, according to Michael Shifter, President of the Inter-American Dialogue. In effect her support rose after her husband and predecessor Nestor Kirchner died of a heart attack in 2010 and in 2011 she was re-elected with a record breaking 54% of the ballot plus thirty points ahead of her runner up.