Veteran Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee‘s kidney function may improve in the next three to four weeks, said Arindam Kar, who is leading the team of doctors treating Chatterjee at the Belle Vue Hospital in Kolkata.
The 85-year-old had tested positive for Covid-19 and was admitted on October 6.
The doctor confirmed that the actor was stable based on the healthy parameters of his status, GCS, and neurological scores.
Although he tested negative for Covid-19 on October 14, his renal function was affected due to the spread of infection and has been periodically undergoing dialysis.
“We are now regularly doing dialysis on alternate days because the kidneys will now take time to come back, in two to three weeks. We are hopeful because most of the nephrotoxins are being withdrawn and there had been no permanent insult. So, a standard acute injury resolution time would be applicable,” Dr Kar said.
“So, in three to four weeks, it should come back, provided we get him better,” he added.
On Monday, Dr Kar had said that the thespian was supposed to undergo tracheostomy on Wednesday. He had said that plasmapheresis will be conducted 24 to 48 hours later, if there were no complications and infections post tracheostomy.
Dr Kar’s team at the Belle Vue Hospital is being guided by a team of state health representatives, who visited the actor on Monday. The state health team comprised Ashutosh Mukherjee, Biman Roy and Sutradhar. They also met the actor’s daughter Poulami Bose.
“The neurology review board now also includes Dr Biman Roy. They (the state health representatives) all decided to go for plasmapheresis. We have also devised the plan. We had some issues on the blood parameters, particularly the platelet count. So, we are rectifying those things and hopefully, plasmapheresis will be done soon,” Dr Kar said.
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According to Dr Kar, a review from the neurology team is being awaited, after which the decision to check his cerebrospinal fluid and/or repeat electroencephalogram- a method to record the brain’s electrical activity- will be taken.
“There will be a lot improvisations and precautions that need to be taken,” Dr Kar added.
The Padma Bhushan awardee is renowned for several collaborations with Oscar-winning director Satyajit Ray. The duo has worked together in 14 films, including the Apu Trilogy and Feluda series. The duo was considered to be of the same stature as Scorsese-Dicaprio, and Scorsese-DeNiro.