Sharon To Undergo A Form Of Kidney Dialysis
Julie Farby - All Headline News Staff Writer Jerusalem, Israel (AHN)-Hospital spokeswoman Anat Dolev says that former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was rushed to the intensive care unit of a Tel Aviv hospital Wednesday to undergo a form of kidney dialysis. The 78-year-old Sharon's condition deteriorated significantly earlier in the week, when officials at the Sheba Medical Center said the former leader's kidneys were failing and that they had noticed changes in his brain membrane. His blood will be filtered to remove the excess fluids accumulating in his body as a result of the kidney failure, and he will be receiving antibiotics intravenously to treat a bacterial infection in his blood. Dr. John Martin, a professor of cardiovascular medicine at London's University College, says the infection in Sharon's blood indicates his immune system is weak, and the problem could damage other vital organs, such as the liver. Meanwhile, Dr. Philip Stieg, director of the neurosurgery department at the Weill-Cornell Medical College in New York, says the combined kidney failure and blood infection increase the chance that Sharon will contract pneumonia, a common killer of people his age and in his condition. Stieg tells the AP Sharon is suffering "multi-system failure" and "it just becomes a snowball that just keeps getting bigger," adding that, while, "It's obvious that they're doing everything to keep him alive. It's not |
