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Vatican details pope's treatment


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Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls makes a statement to reporters Friday.
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CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains the tracheotomy procedure.

ROME, Italy (CNN) -- The following is the medical bulletin issued Friday, in English, by chief Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls on the pope's condition:

"The Holy Father spent a night of tranquil rest. This morning he ate breakfast with a good appetite.

"The post-operative situation continues regularly.

"He is breathing on his own and cardio-circulatory conditions remain good.

"Upon the advice of his doctors, the Pope must not speak for several days so as to favor the recovery of the functions of the larynx.

"A new medical bulletin is not foreseen until next Monday, February 28, at 12:30 p.m. (1130 GMT, 6:30 a.m. ET)."

On Thursday, the Vatican issued the following statement, translated from Italian, on the pope's condition:

"The flu syndrome which this morning made it necessary to hospitalize the Holy Father at the Polyclinic Gemelli became complicated over the past few days by the return of episodes of acute difficulty in breathing, caused by a pre-existing functional stenosis of the larynx.

"Such a clinical presentation called for an elective tracheotomy to assure adequate ventilation of the patient and to help resolve the pathology of the larynx.

"The Holy Father was informed of and gave his consent to the operation.

"The operation, which began at 8:20 p.m. and ended at 8:50 p.m., was performed and concluded without complications.

"The immediate postsurgical conditions are regular.

"The Holy Father will spend the night in his hospital room.

"The surgery was performed by Prof. Gaetano Paludetti, of the otolaryngological clinic of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, and by Dr. Angeloi Carmaioni, the chief otolaryngologist of the Hospital San Giovanni of Rome, helped by Prof. Giovanni Almadori.

"The anesthesia was administered by Prof. Rodolfo Proietti, of the otologanrycological clinic of the University of Florence and consultant to the Vatican's sanitarium and by Dr. Renato Buzzonetti, the Holy Father's personal physician."


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