Immediate operation recommended for Arroyo

MANILA, Philippines—Former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was recommended to undergo an immediate operation due to her damaged cervical spine, her attending physician from St. Luke’s Medical Center said Tuesday in a medical bulletin aired live on television.

Dr. Juliet Gopez-Cervantes said Arroyo would need to undergo surgery to realign the portion of her spine at her neck to free up nerves that transmit signals from her brain to her upper extremities.

Cervantes said the team of doctors diagnosed Arroyo as suffering from multi-level cervical spondylosis. If not addressed immediately, the condition may lead to paralysis which Arroyo’s chief physician described as “irreversible.”

At present, the Pampanga representative was undergoing preliminary work-up procedures to prepare her for surgery which may be done in the coming days, Cervantes said.

On a scale of 1 to 10, Arroyo told her doctors the pain was between nine and 10, Cervantes recalled, which the former president felt on her nape.

The Mayo Clinic website defined cervical spondylosis as a “general term for age-related wear and tear affecting the disks in your neck. These changes later contribute to the development of cervical osteoarthritis in the joints that link your neck bones (facet joints).”

The condition is common among people aged 55 and above, the Mayo clinic said. Miko Morelos

Originally posted at 11:50 am | Tuesday, July 26, 2011