Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de
Kirchner will undergo surgery on Tuesday to treat
bleeding on her brain, doctors have said.
Ms Fernandez, 60, was earlier ordered to rest for a
month after doctors discovered the subdural
haematoma.
It was diagnosed as she was undergoing tests for
another condition on Saturday.
This means Ms Fernandez will have to suspend
campaigning for congressional elections.
The break from campaigning is considered awkward for
the president as some opinion polls have suggested the
government could lose control of Congress in the poll
on 27 October.
While her party has done well in the primaries on a
nationwide level it has failed to win a key seat in the
province of Buenos Aires, where her rival and former
cabinet chief Sergio Massa beat Ms Fernandez's
candidate.
Medical experts say recovering from this type of
surgery is a long process, and her lay-off is now likely
to be longer than a month.
It has not yet been officially announced whether Vice-
President Amado Boudou, who is facing a corruption
investigation, will be in charge of the country during
her leave.
Headaches
The president's spokesman, Alfredo Scoccimarro,
issued a statement on Sunday saying her doctors had
carried out a brain scan in August after a previously
undisclosed trauma - thought to have been caused by a
fall.
They found nothing untoward, but on Saturday, she
went to hospital for checks for an irregular heartbeat
and headaches, and a further scan revealed the
subdural haematoma - bleeding between the brain and
the skull.
The hospital treating her said on Monday she had
experienced a slight loss of muscular strength in her
left arm, and recommended surgery to drain the
subdural hematoma.
President Fernandez was first elected in 2007 and then
returned to power by a comfortable majority in 2011.
Her health has been followed closely since the sudden
death of her husband, former President Nestor
Kirchner, from a heart attack in 2010.
She has been admitted to hospital on a number of
occasions while serving as president. She has low blood
pressure and had to have a thyroid gland removed in
2012.
Kirchner will undergo surgery on Tuesday to treat
bleeding on her brain, doctors have said.
Ms Fernandez, 60, was earlier ordered to rest for a
month after doctors discovered the subdural
haematoma.
It was diagnosed as she was undergoing tests for
another condition on Saturday.
This means Ms Fernandez will have to suspend
campaigning for congressional elections.
The break from campaigning is considered awkward for
the president as some opinion polls have suggested the
government could lose control of Congress in the poll
on 27 October.
While her party has done well in the primaries on a
nationwide level it has failed to win a key seat in the
province of Buenos Aires, where her rival and former
cabinet chief Sergio Massa beat Ms Fernandez's
candidate.
Medical experts say recovering from this type of
surgery is a long process, and her lay-off is now likely
to be longer than a month.
It has not yet been officially announced whether Vice-
President Amado Boudou, who is facing a corruption
investigation, will be in charge of the country during
her leave.
Headaches
The president's spokesman, Alfredo Scoccimarro,
issued a statement on Sunday saying her doctors had
carried out a brain scan in August after a previously
undisclosed trauma - thought to have been caused by a
fall.
They found nothing untoward, but on Saturday, she
went to hospital for checks for an irregular heartbeat
and headaches, and a further scan revealed the
subdural haematoma - bleeding between the brain and
the skull.
The hospital treating her said on Monday she had
experienced a slight loss of muscular strength in her
left arm, and recommended surgery to drain the
subdural hematoma.
President Fernandez was first elected in 2007 and then
returned to power by a comfortable majority in 2011.
Her health has been followed closely since the sudden
death of her husband, former President Nestor
Kirchner, from a heart attack in 2010.
She has been admitted to hospital on a number of
occasions while serving as president. She has low blood
pressure and had to have a thyroid gland removed in
2012.
Comments
Post a Comment