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Maradona still on respirator
21/04/2004 20:11 - (SA)
Buenos Aires - Diego Maradona, fighting for his life after suffering severe heart and lung problems on Sunday, remained on a respirator in hospital here on Wednesday, doctors said.
A statement issued by the 43-year-old Argentinian football legend's medical team said Maradona must remain under sedation "to continue to stabilise the cardiovascular function at satisfactory levels".
The bulletin said that Maradona "would be kept under respiratory assistance".
It added that the bacteria which caused his pneumonia was acutely sensitive to antibiotics "meaning the treatment followed since he was hospitalised cannot be modified".
"The prognosis remains cautious," the bulletin concluded.
Maradona, who has a long history of drug abuse, was admitted to the Swiss-Argentine clinic on Sunday with severe heart and breathing problems.
Personal doctor Alfredo Cahe said his condition has been gradually improving through Monday and Tuesday although he was still seriously ill.
"The priority now is to treat his lungs which became infected when he swallowed his own vomit on Sunday," a medical source told the sports paper Ole.
"Once the infection is under control, the aim will be to take him off the respirator. That process will take a whole day," the source said.
"When the oxygen levels in his blood stream are back to normal the doctors will have him partly on the machine and partly breathing normally. If all goes according to plan, they will then unhook him completely."
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- AFP
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