Jayalalithaa suffers cardiac arrest after being declared ‘recovered’

mangaloretoday/HT

Chennai, Dec 04: Hours after she was declared to have completely recovered, ailing Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa was back in the Critical Care Unit of Apollo Hospital, where she has been convalescing since September 22.

The 68-year-old CM was moved back into the ICU late afternoon on Sunday, reportedly due to heart complications.

“The honourable chief minister of Tamil Nadu, who is undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospitals, suffered a cardiac arrest this evening.

“She is being treated and monitored by a team of experts, including cardiologists, pulmonologist and critical care specialists,” chief operating officer and head of transformation of Apollo Hospital Dr Subbaiah Viswanathan said in a statement.

She is believed to be in a stable condition now.

Her sudden return comes just hours after her party announced that she had been given a clean bill of health by a team of medical specialists, including three doctors from AIIMS.

Police has been deployed outside the hospital, which is now slowly filling with AIADMK supporters as news of her condition begins to spread.

Her party continues to maintain that Amma, as the six-time chief minister is reverently known among her supporters, is completely fine.

Jayalalithaa was hospitalised on September 22 after she complained of high fever and dehydration. Initial press releases from the hospital failed to throw any light on the exact nature of her ailment, creating further confusion and resulting in the spread of wild rumours.

A team of doctors from different specialties, including three specialists from Delhi-based AIIMS and a multi-organ specialist from London, attended to her.