Neurological expert: Sharon's chances of surviving are slim By Tamara Traubman and Ran Reznick, Haaretz Correspondents
The chances of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon surviving the massive stroke and cerebral hemorrhage he suffered Wednesday are very slim, a top neurosurgeon and expert in the field said Thursday, adding that this had been the case from the moment that the hemorrhaging began.
The neurosurgeon's observations were based on his own experience, and not on the details of the prime minister's specific state, which was unavailable in its entirety.
According to the expert, Sharon has a "very poor" chance of survival.
Sharon underwent prolonged surgery overnight to stop widespread bleeding in the brain. After surgery, he was moved to the intensive care unit, where he has been placed in "deep sedation," Hadassah University Hospital director Shlomo Mor-Yosef said Thursday.
Sharon emerged from hours of surgery Thursday morning with vital signs showing "functional and stable" levels, and with a CT scan showing that the bleeding in his brain had been halted. But, Mor-Yosef said, the prime minister's condition remains grave.
PM taken by ambulance from Negev ranch Sharon arrived at the hospital by ambulance from his Sycamore Ranch in the Negev, a drive of more than an hour, and was taken into the emergency room, where he had been scheduled to undergo a cardiac catheterization Thursday afternoon.
Channel One television reported Thursday morning that Sharon at first resisted efforts to take him to hospital, insisting that he felt well enough to remain at home.
Once Sharon arrived at the hospital, it became clear that the severity of his condition necessitated general anesthesia, and Maimon and Mazuz decided they had no choice but to transfer Sharon's powers to Olmert. Sharon had finished working at 3 P.M. Wednesday and traveled to his ranch. He was supposed to have begun fasting at midnight, ahead of the heart procedure.
A medical team gathered around Sharon, who was accompanied by his son Omri, as he came out of the ambulance, and witnesses said he was brought into the hospital on a stretcher.
Meanwhile, there was debate in Israeli media Thursday over Sharon's evacuation. Some commentators argued that Sharon should have been taken to hospital in Be'er Sheva, a much shorter distance from his ranch, or airlifted by helicopter rather than evacuated by ambulance.
Sharon, 77, was to have undergone a cardiac catheterization procedure scheduled for Thursday afternoon. It was intended to close a small hole between the upper chambers of Sharon's heart, detected when he suffered a mild stroke last month.
He was to have been put under general anesthesia during the operation, and his authority would have rested with Olmert for about three hours.