Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, the president of Argentina, is undergoing brain surgery following a head injury, according to the hospital Fundación Favaloro in Buenos Aires, where she was re-admitted to on Monday. The hospital said the operation was to remove blood that had accumulated under a membrane that covers the brain. The president was first admitted on Saturday after suffering from an irregular heartbeat and headaches, so the doctors carried out further tests and found a subdural hematoma - a clot inside her skull that was putting pressure on her brain.
These types of hematomas usually occur after a blow to the head, which her doctors attributed to a fall on August 12. However, she was cleared by her doctors at the time because the tests "showed nothing," Alfredo Scoccimarro, the presidential spokesman said. Late Sunday, Fernandez de Kirchner started complaining of tingling and a temporary loss of muscle strength in her left arm, so medical experts decided to operate. "Facing these symptoms, the team decided on surgical intervention," doctors from Fundacion Favaloro hospital said in a statement. The procedure - which involves drilling small holes through the skull to remove old blood - is considered to be low risk.
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. The president's leave of absence means she will have to suspend campaigning for congressional elections. The break from the campaign trail is considered awkward for the president as some opinion polls have suggested the government could lose control of Congress on October 27. 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 Fernandez de Kirchner's candidate.
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. In the meantime, he wished her strength during a speech at the presidential palace, adding that her colleagues would carry on, "giving her the rest she deserves."
Fernandez de Kirchner's health has been in the spotlight ever since her husband, former president Nestor Kirchner, died after a heart attack in 2010. Ignacio de los Reyes, from BBC Mundo explained, "Although her condition is not life threatening, there has been speculation about President Fernandez's illness as the Argentine government hasn't provided any further details about the cause of the bleeding. Last year, she had her thyroid glands removed after she was diagnosed with cancer. Later tests indicated no disease was present.
Although the surgery started early in the morning, there's no word yet on the president's status. The official government web page hasn't been updated since they posted the news of Fernandez de Kirchner being surgically intervened.
UPDATE: According to a tweet by the Associated Press, Buenos Aires governor says Fernandez de Kirchner is out of surgery and recovering.
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