Hillary Clinton hospitalised
2012-12-31 09:21
Washington - Secretary of State HillaryClinton is under observation
at a New York hospital after being treated for a blood clot stemming from the
concussion she sustained earlier this month.
Clinton's doctors discovered the clot on Sunday
while performing a follow-up exam, her spokesperson, Philippe Reines, said. He
would not elaborate on the location of the clot but said Clinton was being
treated with anti-coagulants and would remain at New York-Presbyterian Hospital
for at least the next 48 hours so doctors can monitor the medication.
"Her doctors will continue to assess
her condition, including other issues associated with her concussion,"
Reines said in a statement. "They will determine if any further action is
required."
Clinton, 65, fell and suffered a
concussion while at home alone in mid-December as she recovered from a stomach
virus that left her severely dehydrated. The concussion was diagnosed 13 December
and Clinton was forced to cancel a trip to North Africa and the Middle East
that had been planned for the next week.
Location dependent
The seriousness of a blood clot
"depends on where it is", said Dr Gholam Motamedi, a neurologist at
Georgetown University Medical Centre who was not involved in Clinton's care.
Clots in the legs are a common risk after
someone has been bedridden, as Clinton may have been for a time after her
concussion. Those are "no big deal" and are treated with six months
of blood thinners to allow them to dissolve on their own and to prevent further
clots from forming, he said.
A clot in a lung or the brain is more
serious. Lung clots, called pulmonary embolisms, can be deadly, and a clot in
the brain can cause a stroke, Motamedi said.
Keeping Clinton in the hospital for a
couple of days could allow doctors to perform more tests to determine why the
clot formed, and to rule out a heart problem or other condition that may have
led to it, he said.
Dr. Larry Goldstein, a neurologist who is
director of Duke University's stroke centre, said blood can pool on the surface
of the brain or in other areas of the brain after a concussion, but those would
not be treated with blood thinners, as Clinton's aide described.
Benghazi attack
Clinton was forced to cancel a 20 December
testimony before Congress about a scathing report into the 11 September attack
on the US diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador Chris
Stevens and three other Americans.
The report found that serious failures of leadership and management in two
State Department bureaus were to blame for insufficient security at the
facility. Clinton took responsibility for the incident before the report was
released, but she was not blamed.
Some conservative commentators suggested
Clinton was faking the seriousness of her illness and concussion to avoid
testifying, although State Department officials vehemently denied that was the
case.
Lawmakers at the hearings - including
Democratic Senator John Kerry, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairperson
who has been nominated by President Barack Obama to succeed Clinton - offered
her their best wishes.
Last Thursday, before the discovery of
the blood clot, Reines said Clinton was expected to return to work this week.
The former first lady and senator, who
had always planned to step down as America's top diplomat in January, is known
for her gruelling travel schedule. She is the most travelled secretary of state
in history, having visited 112 countries while in the job.
Clinton is considered a front-runner for
the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, although she has not announced
plans to run.
- AP
