Jyoti Basu showing signs of multi-organ failure (Second Lead)

KOLKATA - Veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu’s condition deteriorated further Friday and he was showing signs of multi-organ failure, doctors said.

The 95-year-old leader’s ventilator requirement had also gone up, the doctors said.

“Basu is showing signs of multi-organ failure. His lung is not functioning properly and he has been put on ventilator support. His cardiac and renal systems are also not working enough,” Susrut Bannerjee, a doctor attending on Basu, told reporters.

“His blood pressure is being maintained through medicine and the dialysis is still on. The heart’s pumping is also not adequate,” Bannerjee, critical care specialist at the AMRI Hospital, said.

“His health condition has further deteriorated today (Friday),” he said, adding that doctors will continue to conduct dialysis on him.

The evening bulletin said Basu’s ventilation requirement had increased since the afternoon.

“He is critical. The ventilation requirement has increased. His cardiac condition continues to be the same as in the morning. Dialysis has been done and we are still feeding him liquid food with the help of ryles tube,” the medical bulletin said.

The 95-year-old Communist icon was hospitalised after a pneumonia attack and admitted in the Intensive Cardiac Care Unit (ICCU) of the Salt Lake-based private hospital Jan 1.

Born 1914 in Kolkata, Basu became chief minister of West Bengal in June 1977. He stepped down voluntarily on health grounds in November 2000.