Yeltsin’s Poor Health May Complicate Heart Surgery But Doctor Won’t Specify Nature Of Problems

Russian President Boris Yeltsin has serious medical problems that may complicate his coming heart operation, the head of the Kremlin medical center acknowledged Friday.

For weeks, physicians have speculated that Yeltsin may have liver disease and other ailments that could pose problems for his heart operation.

And Friday a senior Kremlin official confirmed that possible complications were both a serious concern and one reason for Yeltsin’s extended stay in a Kremlin hospital for pre-operative tests.

“All of us during our lives acquire quite a lot of different problems with our organs,” said Dr. Sergei Mironov, the head of the Kremlin medical center. “Unfortunately, Boris Nikolayevich has them, too.”

Mironov said Yeltsin’s risk of not surviving the operation was about 3 percent to 4 percent, a figure he said was comparable to that for surgery patients elsewhere in the world.

Mironov refused to provide details about the possible complications. But by way of example he added that tests would evaluate the effect of the operation on blood circulation, kidneys, liver and lungs.

To help prepare Yeltsin for what Mironov said would be a “very serious” operation, his stay in the Moscow Central Clinic Hospital for pre-operative tests has been extended for three or four more days. That is the third extension since Yeltsin entered the Kremlin hospital last weekend.

The decision to extend Yeltsin’s stay in the Central Clinic Hospital has prompted speculation that the president’s health is deteriorating rapidly. To counter that impression, the Kremlin has insisted that Yeltsin is still on the job and that his current tests are routine.

Yeltsin is staying in the clinic with his wife, Naina, who had a kidney operation last month. He is expected to go to the Cardiology Center in Moscow for his heart operation.

Mironov also confirmed that Dr. Renat S. Akchurin, the head of cardiovascular surgery at the Cardiology Center, is scheduled to lead the team that operates on Yeltsin.