The Vatican has issued a new update on the health of Pope Francis (Image: Getty)
has had coffee and read the morning newspapers after a setback in his two-week recovery from double pneumonia, the said.Doctors had put him on non-invasive mechanical ventilation on Friday after he had a coughing fit in which he inhaled vomit that needed to be extracted.
Medics said it would take a day or two to evaluate how and if the Friday afternoon episode impacted Francis’s overall clinical condition. His prognosis remains guarded, meaning he is not out of danger.The Vatican said on Saturday morning that the 88-year-old had no further respiratory crises overnight, adding: “The night has passed quietly, the Pope is resting.” He had coffee in the morning for breakfast, suggesting he was not dependent on a ventilation mask to breathe, and was still eating on his own.
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In its Friday update, the Vatican said Francis suffered an ‘isolated crisis of bronchial spasm’. (Image: Getty)
In the late Friday update, the Vatican said Francis suffered an “isolated crisis of bronchial spasm,” a coughing fit in which Francis inhaled vomit, that resulted in a “sudden worsening of the respiratory picture.”
The pope remained conscious and alert at all times and cooperated with the maneuvers to help him recover.
He responded well, with a good level of oxygen exchange and was continuing to wear a mask to receive supplemental oxygen, the Vatican said.
The episode marked a concerning setback in what had been two successive days of increasingly upbeat reports from doctors treating Francis at Rome’s Gemelli hospital since February 14.
The pope, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, has lung disease and was admitted after a bout of bronchitis worsened and turned into pneumonia in both lungs.
The Vatican said the episode was different from the prolonged respiratory crisis on February 22, that was said to have caused Francis discomfort.
Dr. John Coleman, a pulmonary critical care doctor at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, said Friday’s isolated episode was nevertheless alarming and underscored Francis’s fragility and that his condition “can turn very quickly”.
“I think this is extremely concerning, given the fact that the pope has been in the hospital now for over two weeks, and now he’s continuing to have these respiratory events and now had this aspiration event that is requiring even higher levels of support,” he told .
“So given his age and his fragile state and his previous lung resection, this is very concerning,” added Coleman, who is not involved in Francis’ care.
Meanwhile, Dr. William Feldman, a pulmonary specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said it was a good sign that the pope remained alert and oriented during the episode, but agreed that it marked “a worrying turn.”
“Often we will use noninvasive ventilation as a way of trying to stave off an intubation, or the use of invasive mechanical ventilation,” Feldman said.