KATHMANDU, Feb 24: Former crown prince Paras Bir Bikram Shah, who is in a very critical state after suffering a major heart attack last Tuesday, developed bleeding from the stomach on Saturday, according to a statement issued by Samitivej Hospital in Bangkok, where he is undergoing treatment.
Following this, doctors have started giving him blood transfusion.
“The bleeding was caused by use of a blood thinning medicine that prevents chances of hemorrhage,” a reliable source told Republica. “Doctors have already reduced the use of that medicine on him.”
To further diagnose Shah´s condition, doctors at the Bangkok hospital also performed an endoscopy on the former crown prince Satuday, says a hospital statement signed by Dr Sayan Cheepudomwit, a cardiologist, Dr Parinya Kunawut, also a cardiologist, Dr Surasak Ackpongpaisit, a gastroenterologist, and Dr Kunichit Piyavechviratana, an intensivist.
“Other organs are functioning well,” the source said. “But the level of potassium was a bit high on Saturday and it has been brought under control.”
However, Shah´s overall medical condition still remains “very critical” and is on “ventilator life support” at the ICU of the hospital, according to a Samitivej statement.
“Although he is in a critical state his condition is stable, which is surprising considering the massive heart attack that he suffered,” the source said.
Currently, doctors are trying to gradually raise Shah´s body temperature which remained at 33 degrees centigrade on Saturday. “They are planning increasing the temperature by a notch to 34 degrees tomorrow (Sunday),” the source said. This process will continue until doctors gradually restore the normal body temperature of 37 degrees centigrade.
“This (restoration of normal body temperature) is a slow process and his well-wishers will have to wait for some time to know how his organs respond once normalcy is reinstated in his body,” the source said.
Shah suffered a major cardiac arrest Tuesday night--the second since September 2007--at the apartment of Bangkok-based Nepali businessman Sunil Khadka at Rama 9 in Bangkok, where he has been staying for the last two months.
Shah was planning to prepare food at the time while Khadka and his wife had gone out for grocery shopping.
“Doctors said his heart had stopped beating for around 50 minutes when he was brought to the hospital,” according to another source. “However, CT scans (conducted twice since last Wednesday) show that his brain is fine and there are no traces of blood clots.”
Shah´s parents have not flown to Bangkok yet. But his wife Himani stayed at the hospital throughout the day Saturday and held consultations with various doctors.
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