Pneumonia seen as key concern in pope's illness

Published: 2005-02-02

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The possibility of pneumonia is one of the most serious dangers Pope John Paul II could face from his bout with influenza and tracheal inflammation, said U.S. medical experts contacted by Catholic News Service Feb. 2. The 84-year-old pope, who came down with the flu in late January, was rushed to Rome's Gemelli Hospital late Feb. 1 after he suffered what Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls called "acute laryngeal tracheitis and a crisis of laryngeal spasms." A spasm of the larynx, or voice box, can temporarily block breathing. Tracheitis, or an inflammation of the trachea, can be caused by a bacterial or viral infection and can also cause difficulty breathing. Navarro-Valls said Feb. 2 that the pope's condition had been stabilized at the hospital and he had rested for several hours during the night. He said doctors had provided "respiratory assistance" but did not say whether this involved oxygen or drugs. Italo Mocchetti, a neurology professor at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, said the pope's struggles with Parkinson's disease and his age would make recovery from pneumonia -- should he get it -- far more difficult for him. Parkinson's itself does not typically affect the lungs or other internal organs, he said, but "patients with Parkinson's are known to recover very poorly from pneumonia. We can do it without problems, they can't."

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