Date Published: 12/21/10

Ojukwu suffers massive stroke, on life support, to be flown abroad...kidney compromised

Ex-Biafran warlord, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, who has been in a coma at the Intensive Care Unit of the University of Nigeria Teaching hospital since Sunday, may be flown abroad for top shelf medical care. Doctors at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, on Tuesday confirmed that ex-Biafran warlord, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, would be moved abroad once his health, most especially his blood pressure and breathing stabilizes.

The APGA chieftain is also believed to have some issues with his kidney resulting in less urine production. The kidneys produce urine by filtering the blood. Decreased urination is usually related to one of three problems: blockage in the tubes that carry urine from the kidneys to the outside of the body, insufficient blood reaching the kidneys, so they cannot make urine, and kidney damage, which makes the kidney unable to filter.

It was learnt that Ojukwu who was brought to the Accident and Emergency Unit by his wife, Bianca, and some aides, was later moved to the ICU after he was diagnosed with massive stroke.

Pointblanknews.com learnt that Ojukwu who could be flown to either the United States, South Africa or the United Kingdom,

According to medical sources, Ojukwu may have suffered some damage to the brain caused by a disruption of the blood supply to a part of the brain, since he is hypertensive. This disruption of blood supply can be caused by a blood clot, or by a ruptured artery. Symptoms depend on which part of the brain is affected. Common symptoms may include paralysis of a part of the body, loss of all or part of the vision, or loss of the ability to speak or to understand speech.