Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party Parliamentary Deputy Chair and member of the İmralı Delegation Sırrı Sureyya Onder was taken to Florence Nightingale Hospital in Şişli on the night of 15 April after his aortic artery ruptured at home. After an operation of more than 12 hours, he is being treated in the intensive care unit of the hospital. Onder, who still cannot wake up, still have a risk of death. 

 

Onder's doctor and Head of the Cardiovascular Surgery Department at Florence Nightingale Hospital Prof. Dr. Ertan Sagbas spoke to Mezopotamya Agency (MA) for the first time about Onder's health problems, interventions and details of his condition. 

 

Stating that a heart ultrasound was performed in the first minutes of Onder's arrival at the hospital, Sagbas said that they took him into surgery immediately after he diagnosis was made. Stressing that the operation lasted about 12 hours, Sagbas said, "Our patient had both a dissection and a heart attacks. There were two severe pathologies. When I saw this situation, I made a bypass decision. We removed the vein from his foot and made a bypass there and completely corrected the pathology. Then we rested the heart a little because the heart was very battered and tired. Then we tried to get off the heart-lung machine, but we could not. Because we anticipated this, we had also prepared ECMO (Extrecorporeal membrane oxygenation). The heart rests in the field of this device."

 

Pointing out to a repeat operation was performed after the first operation and both the heart was cleaned and observation was made, Sagbas said, "We saw that the right side, which did not contract in the first operation, started to contract. This is a very good thing, this was something we aimed for. In other words, we wanted the heart to rest, the right heart to recover and start contracting. This is what we wanted. It made us very happy."

 

Sagbas said that ECMO support is currently continuing for Onder's treatment and that brain tomography was performed 3 days ago, adding that Onder has an intense oedema in his brain. 

 

"Neurologists say that the oedema should be opened. Only then we can speak clearly. He is still uncertain. His breathing reflex does not occur. He does not wake up and does not open his eyes even though he does not take anaesthetic. Neurologically, the negative situation seems to be more unfavourable. This is not my prediction, it is the prediction of neurologists."

 

Stating that they have started an anti-oedema treatment for oedema in the brain, Sagbas emphasised that they have no prediction on how long the procedures will take and said, "It is not possible to say anything short, medium and long term in such patients. We are trying to draw a road map by organising the treatment with instant data."

 

Lastly Sagbas added, "He is actually lucky because it is a miracle that he has become like this. We are also going after a miracle. We are trying to realise this miracle. We need to be very balanced. Even though the possibility of his survival is weak, we have hope."

 

MA  / Mehmet Aslan - Melik Çelik