Celebrated actor Soumitra Chatterjee, on ventilator support since Monday, underwent the first session of dialysis on Wednesday. The dialysis, done to tackle his renal function, "went well," said the doctor treating the thespian at Belle Vue Clinic, Kolkata on Wednesday evening. Dr Arindam Kar of Belle Vue Clinic, where the Dadasaheb Phalke awardee was admitted on October 6, said in a 9 pm bulletin: "We have almost completed the first session of dialysis. It went well. There have been no episodes of blood pressure going up or down. He tolerated it well and it normalised most of his parameters, the renal functions, urea, creatinine, phosphate which were a little haywire. With a little rigor...Blood pressure is without support now 150/90. Consciousness is holding on. 9/10 out of 15 on Glasgow Coma Scale. Ventilation support is about 45 per cent of Oxygen support. He is breathing well with that. He didn't have any new episode of bleeding or fever. All antibiotics were rescheduled or upgraded according to sensitivity and hope they work."
"Definitely he is very critical. But we are giving our best. He has put up a very strong fight despite his age comorbidities. Let us pray for him," he added.
Earlier in the day, Dr Kar shared an updated about Soumitra Chatterjee's condition and said in a medical bulletin: "Renal function is not so good. So, our team of nephrologists has decided on 2-3 episodes of dialysis to bring down urea and creatinine which should also improve the consciousness. We would be starting dialysis sometime soon. We will try to restore urine output. Hopefully the dialysis will be for a shorter duration, not prolonged episodes."
Three days after Soumitra Chatterjee was admitted with COVID-19 at Belle Vue Clinic, a premier private Kolkata hospital, he had to be moved into intensive care after he began suffering from COVID-19 encephalopathy that impacted his consciousness. On Wednesday, it was at 9-10 out of 15 on the Glasgow Coma Scale, unchanged over the last few days. "Barely arouseable" is how Dr Kar had described it in an earlier bulletin.
The doctor, who is a critical care specialist and leading the medical board for Soumitra Chatterjee at Belle Vue, said there was no gastrointestinal bleedingon Wednesday. The actor's hemoglobin and other parameters like lung function are stable. Oxygen support is at about 40-50 per cent, again unchanged since yesterday. "Ventilator parameters are good," Dr Kar said, adding: "We have been able to detect the offending bacteria and organisms that are creating the secondary infections and we have initiated the antibiotics according to sensitivity report."
Soumitra Chatterjee debuted in the Satyajit Ray film Apur Sansar in 1959. Apur Sansar was the third of Ray's Apu trilogy that began with the classic Pather Panchali. After that, Soumitra Chatterjee worked with Satyajit Ray in many of his best films and popular cinema, including the detective Feluda series. Sonar Kella and Joy Baba Felunath made him a household name in Bengal, among children and adults alike.
Not just cinema, Soumitra Chatterjee is admired for his theatre, poetry recitation and paintings and has been acting in popular films scripted to include him as a character. He remains a box office draw.
