Pope Francis has spent a “quiet,” said the Vatican in a brief statement at 8.29 on Saturday, to transmit a sign of tranquility: “The night has passed calmly. The Pope is resting. ” Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 88, who has been admitted to the Gemelli Hospital in Rome for two weeks, suffered at two o’clock on Friday afternoon “an isolated bronchospasm attack,” according to the medical part that, as every day, is disseminated around 19.00.
Broncoospasm is an acute contraction of the muscles surrounding the bronchi and prevents breathing properly. The crisis was resolved in a short time, but the issue is now to find out if the general pneumonia painting that the Pope suffers may have aggravated. Doctors hope to know between Saturday and tomorrow, within 48 hours after the incident.
Broncoospasm caused the Pontiff “an episode of vomiting with inhalation and a sudden worsening of his respiratory picture.” That is, the patient aspired part of the vomit, which went to the lungs, a type of complication that is not rare in these cases and requires immediate intervention. It was what happened, according to the part: “The Holy Father has been quickly aspirated and non -invasive mechanical ventilation has begun, with good response in the gas exchange. The Holy Father has always remained aware and oriented, collaborating in the therapeutic maneuvers. ” As Vatican Fuentes explained, after the help of mechanical ventilation the level of breathing and oxygenation returned to the previous levels. Bergoglio is not intubated, they said, but breathe with a mask.
The risk is that this acute crisis, with the accidental ingestion of vomiting, can cause a new infection in the lungs and complicate the bilateral pneumonia suffered by the pontiff. On Friday the situation remained with the “complex” qualification, according to Vatican Fuentes, and for the moment it has not been “criticism”, a phase that had been taken over this Thursday. For all this, the forecast is still reserved.
The crisis unleashed the alarm and restlessness in the Vatican, after the crisis that the Pope suffered last Saturday, and after the last medical part of Thursday afternoon, which for the first time already marked the horizon of a recovery. Bergoglio had been doing respiratory physiotherapy for three days and even worked. Although doctors already warned that “given the complexity of the clinical picture, more days of clinical stability are necessary to change the prognosis.” That is, the doctors still remained prudent and preferred to wait.
The incident confirms what the medical team warned in its only press conference, on February 21: the life of the Pope “is not in danger, but is not out of danger.” It also reinforces the idea that, in the best case, Francisco’s stay in the hospital will be long and then require a narrow medical follow -up. That is, after two weeks of hospitalization and a very uncertain recovery period, in which the Pope will have to exercise his position minimal and from the hospital.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio was admitted on February 14 with bronchitis that did not finish healing, worsened with bilateral pneumonia detected on the 18th and last Saturday. It seemed to have left her and this Friday entered the sixth day of improvement without new relapses. But a new crisis has once again sow concern.
