Former Bangladesh prime minister Khaleda Zia has been placed on ventilator support after her health deteriorated, hospital doctors said. Cardiologist Shahabuddin Talukdar, chief of the medical board, reported that her breathing difficulties increased, her oxygen levels fell and her carbon dioxide levels rose.
The 80-year-old Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson has been treated at Dhaka’s Evercare Hospital since November 23 for multiple complications. She had been receiving High Flow Nasal Cannula and BiPAP support, but because there was no improvement she was moved to elective mechanical ventilation to rest her lungs and other vital organs.
A team of local and foreign specialists is monitoring her around the clock, the medical board said. Several of her vital organs remain under severe stress: her kidney function has ceased and she is undergoing regular dialysis and receiving blood transfusions. The board also identified problems with her aortic valve.
