Pope Francis has two episodes of ‘acute respiratory failure’: Vatican
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Candles and messages for Pope Francis placed outside Rome's Gemelli University Hospital where the pontiff is hospitalised.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis suffered two new breathing attacks on March 3, requiring two separate bronchoscopies, the Vatican said, as the 88-year-old pontiff struggles to recover from pneumonia.
“Today, the Holy Father experienced two episodes of acute respiratory failure, caused by a significant accumulation of endobronchial mucus and consequent bronchospasm,” it said in a statement on Pope Francis’s 18th day in hospital
In its usual evening update, the Holy See said the Pope had resumed the use of an oxygen mask and noted that he was “alert, focused and cooperative”.
It added that Pope Francis’s prognosis remains “reserved,” an indication that doctors cannot predict the likely outcome of his condition.
The Argentine Pope was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Feb 14 with bronchitis, which developed into pneumonia in both lungs, sparking alarm across the globe.
Despite “slight” incremental improvements in the pope’s condition last week, according to the Vatican, he suffered a setback on Feb 28 with a bronchospasm that required him to use a “non-invasive mechanical ventilation”.
On March 3, with the two episodes of acute respiratory failure, the Vatican said two separate bronchoscopies were performed in order to “aspirate abundant secretions”.
Acute respiratory failure, which can be life-threatening, occurs when the lungs cannot pass enough oxygen into the blood, or when carbon dioxide builds up in the body.
A bronchoscopy is a medical procedure that allows doctors to view the air passages using a small camera at the base of a flexible tube, while also taking tissue samples.
‘All your affection’
On March 2 evening, the Vatican had said the Pope’s condition was stable.
The leader of the world’s almost 1.4 billion Catholics had required the oxygen mask on Feb 28 and March 1, but not on March 2, when he participated in mass and spent the rest of the day alternating rest with prayer.
A man tapes a drawing that reads “Get well soon Pope Francis” at the statue of late Pope John Paul II outside Gemelli Hospital.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Pope Francis had also on March 2 received Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, and Edgar Pena Parra, a Venezuelan archbishop who is also a senior Vatican official.
The Jesuit, who has been pope since March 2013, is being treated in a special suite reserved for pontiffs on the 10th floor of the Gemelli.
Pope Francis, born Jorge Bergoglio, missed his traditional Angelus prayer for a third straight Sunday and the Vatican issued a written text instead.
In it, the pope thanked well-wishers for their prayers, saying: “I feel all your affection and closeness and, at this particular time, I feel as if I am ‘carried’ and supported by all God’s people. Thank you all.” AFP
