A file photo of Soumitra Chatterjee from fan-club (courtesy SoumitraChattopadhyayFanClub)
Highlights
- Soumitra Chatterjee was admitted on October 6
- He tested positive for COVID-19 on October 5
- He is on ventilator support since Monday
Celebrated actor Soumitra Chatterjee, on ventilator support since Monday, will undergo two or three episodes of dialysis to tackle his renal function that doctors described as "not so good" on Wednesday. Dr Arindam Kar of Belle Vue Clinic, Kolkata, where the Dada Saheb Phalke awardee was admitted on October 6, said in a 3 pm bulletin: "Renal function is not so good. So, our team of nephrologists has decided on 2-3 episodes of dialysis to bring down urea and creatinine which should also improve the consciousness. We would be starting dialysis sometime soon. We will try to restore urine output. Hopefully the dialysis will be for a shorter duration, not prolonged episodes."
Three days after Soumitra Chatterjee was admitted with COVID-19 at Belle Vue Clinic, a premier private Kolkata hospital, he had to be moved into intensive care after he began suffering from COVID-19 encephalopathy that impacted his consciousness. On Wednesday, it was at 9-10 out of 15 on the Glasgow Coma Scale, unchanged over the last few days. "Barely arouseable" is how Dr Kar had described it in an earlier bulletin.
The doctor, who is a critical care specialist and leading the medical board for Soumitra Chatterjee at Belle Vue, said there was no gastrointestinal bleedingon Wednesday. The actor's hemoglobin and other parameters like lung function are stable. Oxygen support is at about 40-50 per cent, again unchanged since yesterday. "Ventilator parameters are good," Dr Kar said, adding: "We have been able to detect the offending bacteria and organisms that are creating the secondary infections and we have initiated the antibiotics according to sensitivity report."
Soumitra Chatterjee debuted in the Satyajit Ray film Apur Sansar in 1959. Apur Sansar was the third of Ray's Apu trilogy that began with the classic Pather Panchali. After that, Soumitra Chatterjee worked with Satyajit Ray in many of his best films and popular cinema, including the detective Feluda series. Sonar Kella and Joy Baba Felunath made him a household name in Bengal, among children and adults alike.
Not just cinema, Soumitra Chatterjee is admired for his theatre, poetry recitation and paintings and has been acting in popular films scripted to include him as a character. He remains a box office draw.
