Argentine great Diego Maradona ‘having brain surgery for subdural hematoma’ – despite his doctor saying that he was improving
- Diego Maradona, 60, had been admitted to hospital in Argentina on Monday
- Initial signs were positive but CT scan result has prompted doctors to act
- He is reportedly going to go in for surgery for a subdural hematoma within hours
- Maradona’s last appearance in public was on his 60th birthday last Friday
Argentine football icon Diego Maradona is undergoing brain surgery after a subdural hematoma was revealed by a CT scan.
Maradona had been hospitalised since Monday night for anemia and dehydration, and his condition had been improving, his personal doctor said earlier on Tuesday.
But the latest concerning development for Maradona came on Tuesday evening with the news that he was to have brain surgery ‘within hours’.
Diego Maradona is to undergo brain surgery despite doctors initially saying he was improving
‘He has a subdural hematoma’ Dr. Leopoldo Luque told journalists. ‘We will do it today (Tuesday).’,
The doctor said Maradona has an accumulation of blood between a membrane and his brain. Luque, who is neurologist, said the problem was likely to have been caused by an accident but Maradona does not remember the event.
The doctor said he will perform the surgery himself at a hospital that he did not identify.
He assured that the procedure is a ‘routine surgery’. ‘We are going to operate today. He is lucid, he understands, he agrees with the intervention,’ he added.
Maradona underwent tests after he was admitted to the Ipensa clinic in La Plata, Argentina on Monday, according to his doctor.
The Gimnasia coach looked unwell in his last public appearance before a game
He was initially ‘evolving as doctors wanted’ after suffering with dehydration and anemia but after the results of his CT scan came back, they showed a bleed on the brain which must be operated on.
On Monday the football legend’s doctor said the ex-Napoli and Barcelona star was suffering psychologically which had then impacted his physical health.
Maradona, who won the World Cup with Argentina in 1986 and is widely considered to be one of the greatest players of all time, coaches local club Gimnasia y Esgrima and there will be concern from the footballing community at the latest development.
He last appeared in public on his 60th birthday last Friday before his side’s league match against Patronato.
He was gifted a plaque and a cake to celebrate the occasion but he did not stay to watch the game and witnesses said he looked unwell and weak.
Maradona’s personal doctor Leopoldo Luque offered an update on his condition
The former Napoli, Barcelona and Boca Juniors star has suffered frequent periods in hospital over the years, often due to the extravagant lifestyle that accompanied and followed his playing career.
The former Argentine international was admitted to hospital in January 2019 with internal bleeding in the stomach.
He also fell ill at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where he was filmed passing out in an executive box at the Argentina-Nigeria game.
Maradona was taken into hospital in 2004 with severe heart and respiratory problems linked to cocaine use. He later underwent drug rehabilitation in Cuba and Argentina before a stomach-stapling operation in 2005 helped him lose weight.
In 2007 he checked himself into a clinic in Buenos Aires to help him overcome alcohol abuse problems.
Maradona is a football icon and Argentina legend and thoughts will be with him
