ROME – Pope Francis on Saturday suffered what his doctors described as a “prolonged respiratory crisis” and was required to undergo blood transfusions due to a low blood platelet count, with doctors saying his prognosis is currently “reserved.”
In a Feb. 22 statement, the Vatican said that Pope Francis’s overall clinical condition “continues to be critical,” and that, as his doctors explained to journalists in a press conference Friday, “the pope is not out of danger.”
The Vatican said that Saturday morning, “Pope Francis presented a prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis,” which required the administration of “high-flow oxygen.”
Francis’s blood tests Saturday, according to the Vatican’s statement, also revealed a condition called “thrombocytopenia,” meaning the presentation of a low blood platelet count that is associated with anemia, “which required the administration of blood transfusions.”
The statement said the pope “continues to be alert” and spent the day sitting in an armchair, “even if he was suffering more than yesterday.”
In terms of Pope Francis’s overall prognosis, the Vatican said it is currently “reserved.”
On Friday doctors treating the pope held their first press conference since Francis, 88, was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital for treatment of bronchitis on Feb. 14.
Doctors explained that he was initially treated for a cold at the Vatican that turned into bronchitis, and that when it worsened and was no longer treatable from his residence at the Vatican’s Santa Marta guesthouse, he was taken to the hospital, where he was later diagnosed with a polymicrobial respiratory infection and bilateral pneumonia.
Sergio Alfieri, director of the medical surgical department of Rome’s Gemelli Hospital and head of the pope’s medical team there, said the pope at the time was not at immediate risk of death, but was also “not out of danger,” and that in terms of his prognosis, “both doors are open.”
RELATED: Pope’s doctors say on health, ‘both doors are open’
The pope is especially vulnerable to respiratory illnesses after having part of one lung removed due to a serious bout of pneumonia as a young Jesuit. He has suffered from respiratory illness with increased frequency in the past two years, and in recent months has fallen twice at his residence, injuring his chin and then his arm.
Alfieri said Friday that even if Pope Francis recovers from this current crisis, the asthmatic bronchitis he was diagnosed with after admittance would remain, and that his chronic respiratory disease would also remain.
Follow Elise Ann Allen on X: @eliseannallen
