20 days after he was admitted to hospital with COVID-19, celebrated actor Soumitra Chatterjee is not conscious, his consciousness level has dipped and doctors may decide to put him on invasive devices for airway support. Some doctors have quoted describing his condition as "very critical." The 85-year-old Dadasaheb Phalke awardee may also undergo a procedure called plasmapheresis or plasma exchange that involves extracting a patient's blood to filter out the plasma components such as auto-antibodies in an attempt to reduce the attack on the patient's own body.
A board of neurologist and nephrologists is expected to take a decision on this today.
"We will again sit with the family because they have been primed and they have primarily agreed for it. We will take a call on two major issues, one is invasive every support to sustain things and plasmapheresis," Dr Arindam Kar, who is leading the medical team treating Mr Chatterjee, said Sunday evening.
"You all know he is not keeping well. His consciousness, despite all our efforts, is not improving. Rather it has gone down," Dr Kar added.
Concerns over Mr Chatterjee's health had eased a little last week when doctors seemed upbeat about his parameters. The actor, who began his illustrious career as the star of Satyajit Ray's iconic 1959 film Apur Sansar, is a cancer survivor. He was given convalescent plasma therapy soon after his admission.
Mr Chatterjee's prolonged stay in the ICU is leading to complications. He was admitted to Belle Vue Clinic, one of Kolkata's top private hospitals on October 6. Mr Chatterjee was shifted to ICU on October 9 after developing some complications.
Mr Chatterjee's platelet count has come down and so has his haemoglobin while his urea level is up.
The key problem, R Kar said, was COVID-19 encephalopathy. "That is the crux of the matter, the most important issue for which his improvement has not happened," the doctor said.
