An archive photo of the fan club’s Soumitra Chatterjee (courtesy soumitrachattopadhyayo)
Strong points
- Arindam Kar called the actor’s state of health “definitely critical”
- Soumitra Chatterjee had tested positive on October 5
- Soumitra Chatterjee is being treated at the Belle Vue clinic
Calcutta:
Twenty-four hours after being put on life support, veteran Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee remained critical. Doctors said they had managed to stabilize some of its fluctuating parameters, but their latest concern is its spike in urea and creatinine levels which may require kidney replacement therapy. “Absolutely critical,” said Dr Arindam Kar, the intensive care specialist at Belle Vue clinic who heads the team in charge of Mr Chatterjee’s treatment. “But we managed to stabilize its parameters a bit,” he added.
Listing the “good news,” the doctor said in his last bulletin at 3 p.m. that they were able to identify the bacteria that are causing new plaques in Mr Chatterjee’s lungs and treat the problem. Yesterday the patches were believed to be the start of a new bout of pneumonia.
The actor suffered from gastrointestinal bleeding. It stopped. His sliding platelet count stabilized with medication and some transfusions. His urine output is “acceptable after good fluid resuscitation,” added the doctor.
Even his consciousness, affected by Covid encephalopathy, is 9 or 10 out of 15 on the Glasgow Coma Scale or GCS. Mr. Chatterjee is still barely awake but stable on this point.
The veteran actor had tested positive on October 5 and admitted to hospital the next day. Three days later, he had to be transferred to ITU after suspecting a Covid encephalopathy which had altered his consciousness. The 85-year-old actor also had several comorbidities, including prostate cancer in remission.
