US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “is making excellent progress” as she recovers from a blood clot in her head.
A statement issued from her medical team said a scan discovered the clot in the space between her brain and her skull, but that it did not result in a stroke or any neurological damage. Doctors Lisa Bardack and Gigi El-Bayoumi said they “are confident she will make a full recovery” and that she “is in good spirits, engaging with her doctors, her family, and her staff.”
The statement, issued late Monday, said the secretary of state is being treated with blood thinners and will be released once the medication dose has been established.
Clinton was taken to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Sunday, after doctors discovered a blood clot while performing a follow-up exam for a concussion she suffered two weeks ago, when she fainted due to dehydration from a stomach virus.
Clinton’s illness forced her to cancel travel plans and public appearances in recent weeks, including a congressional hearing about the deadly events at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya on September 11. Doctor Raj Narayan, chair of neurosurgery at North Shore University Hospital and Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York, told the Reuters news agency Clinton’s “condition is not very common, but it certainly happens”.
Narayan, who is not treating Clinton, said Clinton’s fall could have triggered the production of a blood protein that causes blood to clot.
Fast response: Baltimore-based Doctor Jeffrey Quartner told VOA Monday that for any type of blood clot, quick treatment is critical.