Chirac had 'mini stroke'

2005-09-04 08:12

Paris - French President Jacques Chirac was receiving treatment in a Paris military hospital on Sunday after suffering vision problems caused by a "minor vascular incident".

Chirac, 72, is expected to spend up to a week in the Val de Grace Hospital, the main military hospital in Paris, where he was taken late on Friday, the hospital said in a statement.

"The president of the republic was hospitalised last night (Friday) at the Val de Grace hospital for a minor vascular incident that led to a slight vision disorder, which should be over within a few days," the hospital said in its statement issued Saturday.

"The president of the republic is expected to remain hospitalised for about one week," it added.

Leading British cardiologist Piers Clifford said Chirac had "almost certainly" suffered a transient ischemic attack, which he said is "like a mini-stroke" in which a small blood clot "lodges in the retinal artery, causing restriction in the field of vision."

He said most patients recover as the clot dissolves, but "it is possible that the damage becomes permanent."

The condition is normally treated with anti-platelet agents and anti-coagulants.

Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said he had spoken to Chirac at length on Saturday.

"Naturally, we discussed the agenda of the coming days and in particular the offers of aid and assistance to our American friends faced with the terrible catastrophe that has struck the south of their country," Villepin told reporters.

Villepin visited Chirac in the hospital later in the day.

"I have just spent almost an hour visiting (Chirac)," he told reporters on leaving the hospital.

But Villepin said that Chirac would not preside over Wednesday's cabinet meeting.

Reporters kept up an overnight vigil outside the Paris hospital amid tight security, but local residents voiced confidence that Chirac's medical problems would be shortlived.

The last time the prime minister filled in for the president at a cabinet meeting due to illness was when Chirac's predecessor Francois Mitterrand was hospitalised for a second time in 1994.

- AFP