Ex-president seeks treatment under ‘fake name’

ISLAMABAD: A former President of Pakistan has been diagnosed with a group of serious diseases at two international hospitals abroad. “His registration has been under a dummy name ‘Tariq Mahmood’ due to privacy issues,” reads a 16-page confidential medical report which claimed that a 75 year old former president was of the view that his diagnosis and chronic illness cannot be made public in Pakistan.

“Light chain myeloma with AL amyloidosisis with cardiac involvement, initial Mayo stage III, bone marrow also with 20% plasma cells, FISH, SAP scan no other visceral deposits—MIR spine shows two lesion and additional suspicious lesion in left proximal tumor [were found in the patient],” the report revealed the diseases the special patient was suffering at American Hospital Dubai and Royal Bromptom Hospital in London. Among other diagnosis were “CHF due to cardiac amyloid, pulmonary hypertension, chronic kidney, h/o afib ablation, coronary angiogram, mild atherosclerotic changes/calcifications, essential tremor and h/o restless leg syndrome, revealed the report submitted by a lawyer of former President with a court.”

The confidential report, also made available with Geo TV, further revealed that “treatment plan is put in place in coordination with National Amyloid Center in UK and Royal Bromptom Hospital in London with follow up planned this month.” The report continued to reveal that the patient is required daily and close monitoring and adjustments in diuretics for his congestive heart failure.

The patient’s weight on day to day basis has fluctuated up to 3kg to 4kg due to extensive fluid retention necessitating changes in diuretic therapy and cardiac medications. “He [patient] also remains at risk for life threatening arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death. It is strongly recommended that he continues with his scheduled treatment without any interrupted or delay and to continue with close monitoring,” read the report.

“I have recommended against any travel and will review this month when his follow is due at National Amyloid Center UK to see if he has improved to allow safe travel,” Dr Faraz Khan wrote in his report. A panel of doctors, Professor Michael Galzoulis of Royal Brompton Hospital and National Heart and Lung Institute London in particular, were treating the patient, revealed a communication of Julia Bileckyj, Client Services Manager at Royal Brampton and Harefield Hospitals Specialist Care and the clients. The communication which is also a necessary part of this medical report further revealed that doctors in London have conducted various investigation procedures of the patient.

Dr Mona Tareen, according to Dr Hind, briefed that patient “Mr Mahmood overall in past six months has been very sleepy which has interfered with both reading and writing.” Medical report further continued to reveal that doctors have discussed the nature of patient’s key disease amyloidosis as a protein deposition disease and the important of establishing emyloid type as treatment of amyloidosis at present relies.

Doctors in this report also observed that this disease looks like a progressive and eventually fatal disease and it was important to start treatment early and treatment is chemotherapy using egimes which have borrowed from myeloma treatment. Report further stated that the patient would prefer to have treatment in London and we assessed that there are a number of expert centers. The patient would like to be managed at the Royal where Dr Ashu Wechalekar to review him. Doctors in London also discussed histological confirmation of the type of amyloid as it remains possible that this is TTR type amyloid, the wild-type transthyretin type, revealed the report. The treatment for this moment centers on control of heart failure but that there are novel treatments both aiming to exercise transthyretin and to prevent translation of the transthyretin gene into protein which will likely to be available within the next few months, revealed the report. Dr Raza Bokhari of Parkway Clinical Laboratories and brother in law of the patient were involved in treatment administrative process, stated the report.

Professor Rao Suhail of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University PIMS Islamabad commented on disease as saying that AL amyloidosisis is actually a group of disorders in which an abnormal protein called amyloid builds up in tissues and organs. This disease is treatable in Pakistan and there seems no need to keep this illness secret, he observed. “In simple language it is a sort of disease where protein starts freezing in different organs namely liver, heart, kidney, brain, nerves, etc where patient’s treatment may include chemotherapy directed at the abnormal plasma cells and stem cell transplantation,” Professor Rao said.