Veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu’s condition continued to remain ‘extremely critical’ and ‘his position points towards multiple organ failure,’ a medical bulletin issued by the hospital authorities on Saturday evening stated.
The bulletin further said that he had to be put on maximum ventilation support and that his ionotropic support had been increased to maintain blood pressure.
Members of the six-member medical board are monitoring his condition round-the-clock.
They are slated to hold a meeting on Sunday morning. Mr. Basu was admitted to the hospital here on January 1 as he was suffering from pneumonia.
Though his condition improved in the initial five days, it turned critical on January 6 and he has been on ventilator support ever since although the proportion has been regulated in tune with his requirement.
Mr. Basu’s condition had turned very critical late on Friday with a sudden drop in his blood pressure, doctors attending on him said.
A medical bulletin issued on Saturday morning had stated that though the drop in the blood pressure could be stabilised by administering high dose of ionotropes (blood pressure reducing drugs), his urine output had further dropped.
“Due to the poor urine output and keeping in mind his advanced age as well as critical state, Mr. Basu has been put on slow low efficiency daily dialysis. The process takes eight hours against the four hours required for normal dialysis,” a hospital official said.
Doctors did not sound hopeful about his condition.
“His cardiac condition is poor, his lungs are working partially and his kidneys are also not working properly. At his age and considering the complications he is suffering from, there is little hope of any good result. The doctors are doing their best,” Ajit Kumar Maiti, Mr. Basu’s family physician and one of the doctors on the medical board told journalists.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat, Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat, the former Chief Minister of West Bengal, Siddhartha Shankar Ray, and actor Amitabh Bachchan visited the hospital on Saturday.
