Sharon to Remain in Coma Until Monday

[boblandis]

Jan 8, 11:46 AM (ET)

By JOSEF FEDERMAN

JERUSALEM (AP) - A scan of Ariel Sharon's brain showed improvement Sunday, and doctors will start bringing the Israeli prime minister out of his medically induced coma Monday, a hospital official said.

Hadassah Hospital director Dr. Shlomo Mor-Yosef said Sharon remained in critical condition, but his vital signs, including the pressure inside his skull, were normal.

"His condition is still critical but stable, and there is improvement in the CT picture of the brain," he told reporters outside the hospital.

Bringing Sharon, 77, out of the coma is an important step toward assessing the extent of any brain damage he suffered from a massive stroke Wednesday.

Doctors initially planned to halt the coma-inducing sedatives Sunday but decided to wait another day after performing the new scan.

Mor-Yosef said the latest scan showed that Sharon's brain swelling had decreased, his blood pressure and the pressure inside his skull were within normal range, and his cerebral spinal fluid was draining well.

Sharon did not have a fever, Mor-Yosef said.

"In light of all these factors, the panel of experts decided to start the process of taking him out of the sedation tomorrow morning," he said. "This all depends, of course, on whether the prime minister makes it until tomorrow morning without any significant incidents."

On Saturday, one of Sharon's surgeons ruled out the possibility he would resume his duties as premier. Dr. Jose Cohen told Channel 2 TV that Sharon's chances of survival are high, but that his ability to think and reason would be impaired.

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"He will not continue to be prime minister, but maybe he will be able to understand and to speak," the Argentina-born Cohen told Spanish-language reporters Saturday.

His comments, which reinforced the widespread belief that Sharon's days as prime minister are over, were published in The Jerusalem Post.

But a senior Hadassah Hospital official said it was too early to assess Sharon's prospects for survival.

"There was expression of hopes and thoughts ... in which some people expressed optimism," said Dr. Yair Birenboim, director of the hospital's Ein Kerem unit. "That was definitely an expression that we think was premature."

Sharon, who experienced a mild stroke on Dec. 18, felt weak Wednesday and was rushed to Hadassah from his ranch in southern Israel when a blood vessel on the right side of his brain burst, causing massive cerebral hemorrhaging. The stroke occurred the night before he was scheduled to undergo a procedure to close a hole in his heart that contributed to the earlier stroke.

Since Wednesday, Sharon has undergone two rounds of surgery to stop bleeding in the brain and to relieve pressure inside his skull. Doctors have placed him in what they call an induced coma - under heavy sedation and connected to a respirator - to give him time to heal.

At the Israeli Cabinet's regular weekly meeting Sunday, Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told ministers that Sharon would want everyone to return to work on the country's pressing security, social and economic issues.

"This we will continue to do," he said. "We will continue also to carry out the wishes of Sharon, to manage affairs as necessary."

Speaking to reporters later, Olmert said he saw a "glimpse of hope" for Sharon and expressed hope for a full recovery.

"I pray with all the people of Israel that my tenure as acting prime minister will be short, so soon enough we will be able to see again the leader of Israel," he told a news conference, called to discuss Israel's economy.

In the West Bank, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia wished Sharon a quick recovery and expressed hope for new peace talks.

"We are looking for a new era in which we can negotiate and be partners in a real peace that serves both peoples," he told his Cabinet.

Before his collapse, Sharon appeared headed to win a third term in office at the head of Kadima, a new, centrist party he formed to build on the momentum created by his seminal summer withdrawal of soldiers and settlers from the Gaza Strip.

Although Israel and the Palestinians have not managed to use the withdrawal to jump-start long-stalled peace talks, there had been hope peacemaking would resume after Palestinian elections in January and Israeli balloting in March.

It is far from clear if Olmert or any of Sharon's other potential successors would have the charisma, credibility and hard-charging spirit that helped him to begin carrying out the historic task of drawing Israel's final borders.

It had been widely expected that a Sharon-led government would pull out more troops in the West Bank, but the prime minister has been reluctant to resume peace talks, saying the Palestinians were not a trustworthy partner.

Israelis from all walks of life have lamented Sharon's likely departure from the political scene because, with his larger-than life persona and warrior credentials, Sharon was widely seen as the man most capable of untangling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.