Jayalalithaa suffers cardiac arrest, says Apollo Hospitals

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, who is undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospitals, suffered a cardiac arrest here on Sunday evening.

She is being treated and monitored by a team of experts, including cardiologists, pulmonologist and the critical care specialists, said Apollo Hospitals, Chennai, in a statement issued here.

The Chief Minister was admitted to Apollo Hospital on September 22 after she complained of fever and dehydration. She has been kept under the close observation of a specialist from London, besides a three-member team of doctors from All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi.

The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) on November 19 tweeted Jayalalithaa was shifted from the ICU to the normal ward in the hospital.

This is the first time that that Jayalalaithaa has been moved out of the ICU since she was admitted on September 22 with complaints of fever and dehydration.

On November 13, she said she had taken "rebirth" and she is waiting to resume her duties after her complete recovery.

According to reports, the normal ward will have all requisite facilities to attend to the medical needs of Jayalalithaa.

On November 17, AIADMK spokesperson C. Ponnaiyan said that "Amma", as she is popularly referred to by her party cadre, was healthy and absolutely fit to attend to all political and government activities.

"Our honourable Chief Minister Amma was admitted to the Apollo Hospital for a lung infection and she is absolutely alright and has totally recovered. She is very cheerful and healthy, she is eating, talking, she is absolutely fit for all activities. The physiotherapy to a certain extent still continues. Anytime Amma may get discharged and she will come out to attend her normal political activities as well as government activities," C. Ponnaiyan told ANI.

"The best of healthcare was provided for Amma by Apollo Hospital, the London Richard team, the AIIMS hospital team and the Elizabeth Hospital team from Singapore. The physiotherapy team has also shown excellent results," he added.