Sharon’s final battle?

It’s 6:45 a.m. Ariel Sharon just got out of surgery after a suffering ““a significant stroke” late last night. It’s not looking like he is going to make it through this. The radio is full of medical pundits talking about the seriousness of this surgery and it’s not sounding too good. I haven’t heard one positive comment. An update by the doctors at Hadassah hospital is expected in the coming minutes. According to news reports, the PM was treated with injections twice a day to dilute his blood and apparantly a known and feared complication of anticoagulation drugs is intracranial bleeding.

UPDATE 5: The NY Times interviewed Dr. Matthew E. Fink, chief of the Division of Stroke and Critical Care at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

The huge stroke suffered last night by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel, caused by uncontrolled bleeding into the brain, is likely to be devastating and nearly impossible to treat because Mr. Sharon, 77, is taking blood thinners, neurologists say.

Although Mr. Sharon was taken to surgery to try to remove the blood pouring into his skull, it was a desperate move, neurologists said.

Hemorrhages in the brain while the patient is taking blood thinners “are usually devastating events,” said Dr. Matthew E. Fink, chief of the Division of Stroke and Critical Care at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. “This sounds really terrible.”

Statistically, the likelihood of death is greater than 80 percent, Dr. Fink said.

“They are trying to save his life with surgery, but this is an extremely hazardous procedure,” Dr. Fink said. “The goal is to save his life, but there is not much evidence that it will preserve neurological function.”

UPDATE 4: Obviously every pundit is now questioning what the political ramifications of Sharon’s stroke. Just heard Meir Sheetrit interviewed on Israel Radio. He emphasized that the Kadima party is not a man but a “way.”

UPDATE 3: 7:05 a.m. A hospital spokesman just said that Sharon is still under general anesthesia and they expect surgery to continue for a few more hours. He said Sharon’s condition is “very serious.”

UPDATE 2: 6:51 a.m. Scratch that, he was just taken back into surgergy after receiving a CT scan.

UPDATE 1: 6:47 Heard something on Channel 10 a few minutes ago about how the blood thinners that Sharon was given after his last surgery might be responsible for this stroke.