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Nawaz Sharif stable, will stay at PIMS for some days

By Jamila Achakzai

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is likely to stay at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) for three to four days as doctors on Monday found his condition to be normal through pathological tests.

Nawaz Sharif was shifted to the ‘presidential suite’ of the PIMS Cardiac Centre from Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail on Sunday night on the doctors’ recommendation after he complained of chest pain and irregularities were reported in electrocardiogram, a non-invasive test used to show functional heart condition.

The 68-year-old, who is diabetic and has a history of heart problems and undergoing a bypass surgery in 2016, is serving a 10-year jail sentence in Adiala Jail after conviction in the Avenfield corruption case.

Last week, the three-time premier had refused to move a hospital and called for his treatment by jail doctors after abnormal heartbeat and higher blood urea levels were reported. However, he was shifted to PIMS on the recommendation of cardiologist Dr Naeem Malik, who was alarmed by the presence of blood clotting considering his medical history.

PIMS formed a five-member medial board comprising Joint Executive Director Dr Ejaz Qadeer, Professor of General Medicine Dr Shajee Ahmad Siddiqui, Cardiologist Dr Muhammad Naeem Malik, Nephrologist Dr Sohail Tanveer and Gastroenterologist Dr Mashood Ali for the examination of the former premier.

Sources in the hospital told The News that the blood tests found Nawaz Sharif to be stable. They said the quality of cholesterol in the former premier’s blood was slightly higher than normal and so, it was normalised by injecting insulin.

The sources also said Nawaz Sharif’s right ankle showed little swelling but there’s nothing to worry about it. They said the former prime minister was shifted to the hospital just because he complained about pain in chest as whosoever reported such condition, he or she would be treated at the Cardiac Centre as an emergency case and would be discharged only after the doctors were satisfied with his or her condition.

The sources said the doctors had also sought the medical history of Nawaz Sharif from the London hospital, where he usually went for cardiac checkup and treatment, for examination. The PIMS room, where the former prime minister is under treatment, has already been declared a sub-jail with policemen deployed outside it and hospital premises in large numbers as part of security checks. The policemen allowed staff members the entry to the Cardiac Centre after strict checking.