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Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Castro made the decision that led to health complications, newspaper says

Castro made the decision that led to health complications, newspaper says
By PAUL HAVEN
Associated Press
Posted January 17 2007, 10:45 AM EST

MADRID, Spain -- Fidel Castro himself told surgeons not to perform a
colostomy, opting instead for a course of surgery that produced a
complication that left the Cuban leader in far worse condition,
according to a newspaper report Wednesday.

After removing an inflamed piece of Castro's large intestine in an
operation last year, the doctors connected the remainder directly to his
rectum, rather than attaching a colostomy bag, El Pais said, quoting two
medical sources at Madrid's Gregorio Maranon hospital. The operation
failed when a suture burst.

``The Cuban dictator and his advisers are the ones who decided on the
surgical technique that has led to the complications,'' the paper said.

While the newspaper article did not name the sources, one of the
journalists who wrote it told The Associated Press that both were
doctors at the hospital. The journalist, Oriel Guell, said none of the
information in articles published Tuesday and Wednesday came from
surgeon Jose Luis Garcia Sabrido, who works at the hospital and flew to
Cuba in December to treat the 80-year-old Castro.

Garcia Sabrido, the hospital's chief surgeon, declined comment Wednesday.

But in an interview with Spanish newspaper ABC, Garcia Sabrido said the
only trustworthy information about Castro's health is what ``comes from
his medical team, and the rest are rumors, inaccuracies and things that
are absolutely false.''

He provided no new details about Castro's health.

A Cuban diplomat in Madrid said Tuesday that the newspaper's report on
Castro's health was ``an invented story.''

``It's another lie and we are not going to talk about it. If anyone has
to talk about Castro's illness it's Havana,'' said the diplomat, who
spoke on condition of anonymity in line with normal diplomatic practice.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a close friend of Castro, said Tuesday
he had spoken with him a few days ago and denied that his condition was
grave.

``I'm not a doctor, I'm not at the foot of Fidel's bed, but it's not
like they say: neither grave, nor does he have cancer,'' Chavez told
journalists Tuesday in the Ecuadorean capital of Quito, where he had
traveled for the inauguration of leftist President Rafael Correa.

El Pais reported Tuesday that Castro is in ``very grave'' condition
after three failed operations and complications from the intestinal
infection diverticulitis.

El Pais said that in December, when Garcia Sabrido visited, Castro had
an abdominal wound that was leaking more than a pint of fluids a day,
causing ``a severe loss of nutrients.'' The Cuban leader was being fed
intravenously, the report said.

Cuba has released little information on Castro's condition since he
temporarily ceded power in July to his brother, Defense Minister Raul
Castro, until he could recover from emergency intestinal surgery,
prompting much speculation and rumor in the country and around the world.

Washington had speculated that Castro could suffer from cancer _ a
supposition denied by Garcia Sabrido. Some U.S. doctors believed Castro
was suffering from diverticular disease, which can cause bleeding in the
lower intestine, especially in people over 60. In severe cases,
emergency surgery may be required.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/cuba/sfl-117castrohealth,0,3603666.story?coll=sfla-news-cuba

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