Basescu Leads Romania from Vienna

The doctors of the Allgemeines Krankenhaus Hospital in Vienna (AKH) who performed the surgery on President Traian Basescu have stated that the intervention followed its normal parameters, that there weren’t any problems and that the pains have stopped.

The surgery for the elimination of an unusually big hernia took place at the neurosurgery clinic of the AKH hospital on Monday night and a team led by Prof. Dr. Eneglbert Knosp, the president of the hospital’s neurosurgery department, performed it. Prof. Dr. Michael Zimpfer has coordinated the anesthesia team.

UNUSUAL HERNIA

Knosp announced after the intervention that the hernia caused "neurological problems" and the President couldn’t feel some inferior parts of his body because of the compaction of the nerves. The Austrian doctors have stated that this was "an unusual disc hernia, it was much disseminated and it reached several nerves".

They believe that Basescu "will be able to make a few steps by the end of the week", but he will have to undergo a recovery program. "From our point of view, we would like to keep him under surveillance for two or three more weeks", Prof. Reinhard Krepler, the chief-doctor of AKH, stated.

OPTIONS

Dr. Florin Exergian, neurosurgeon, the number one Romanian specialist in disc hernia surgeries, seriously influenced the President’s final decision of going to Vienna for the surgery. The President had to choose between undergoing the surgery in Bucharest yesterday morning, at the Bagdasar-Arseni Hospital, and going to Vienna for the surgery to take place on Monday night. Lect. Dr. Gheorghe Ioana, the doctor that performed the NMR to the President Traian Basescu, stated that the symptoms got worse on Monday at about 6:00 p.m. and that the emergency surgery was necessary. Even though the disc hernia surgeries are a formality for him, Dr. Florin Exergian refused to take the responsibility of operating on the President after an entire day of surgery. Knosp stated that the doctors chose AKH because it has all the "modern equipment" and because it collaborates with the University Hospital in Bucharest.

THE PRESIDENT DOES NOT TRANSFER HIS ATTRIBUTIONS

Presidential Councilor Adriana Saftoiu announced yesterday that the hospitalization of President Traian Basescu after the intervention might take seven days and that there is no need for a transfer of the attributions in this period. "The doctors that operated on the President are optimistic as far as the recovery is concerned. A normal recovery takes seven days", Saftoiu said.

THE FAMILY PAID

She stated that the family of the President would pay for the intervention. As for the transfer of attributions, the President’s spokesperson stated that it wasn’t necessary. "The hospital room in which the President stays has operative phone connections, which makes it possible for the President to be contacted at any time. The correspondence is provided by a special currier, so there are no problems in exercising the attributions", Saftoiu said.

REFUSAL

According to Adriana Saftoiu, the Senate’s President, Nicolae Vacaroiu, said he had received a phone call from Traian Basescu on Monday night, at approximately 11:00 p.m. The president asked him whether he agreed to take over the attributions during his surgery. "I explained to him that there is no constitutional term for such short periods of time and the procedures are quite complicate", Vacaroiu stated yesterday. However, he said he had promised Traian Basescu that he would always stay in contact to Presidential Councilor Sergiu Medar.

Translated by Sorin Balan