Jayalalithaa 'critically-stable' says Dr. Naresh Tehran

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, who suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday evening, is in a 'critically-stable' condition, says eminent cardiologist Dr. Naresh Tehran, who is heading a team of doctors to Chennai Apollo.

Speaking to ANI, Dr. Trehan said as per the latest statement, Jayalalithaa is stable, which means that the machine (ECMO) has helped to stabalise the situation as this gives the patient a chance to pull through.

"The underlying criticality is still there. How she will come out of it is still the future. The clarification here is that she is still critical, but stable. 'Critically-stable' that's what we normally say. That means there is an opportunity that she might come out of it," he said.

"She was admitted two months ago in a critical condition and in that time whatever we knew was her chronic lung problem. There was also serious thought that whether she will be able to come out of it or not, but the recent record showed that she had come out of it and she was well. So, the doctors said that she could go home if she wants to; so, there was a lot of hope. Suddenly, yesterday, it took a back turn and said that she had a cardiac arrest," he added

"The ECMO or Extra-Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation device is a life support system that helps provide oxygen to the body when the patient's lungs or heart are unable to do so. Worldwide, it gives patients a 50-50 chance in acute situation. Ultimately, we all are hoping that she will recover, and it also shows that the situation is very critical. ECMO is a good devise," he added.

He, however, said a person can be on ECMO for several days or even weeks.

Another senior cardiologist, Dr. K.K. Agarwal said it is not possible to say anything about Amma's health, as only the treating doctors can declare the latest news.

"During the last 24 hour, we have heard three different news: one is cardiac arrest; second is ECMO; and third is angioplasty. We can only say by listening from the bulletins and the news that best of the care is happening, and in such cases, most of them should recover," he added.