Bariatric surgery, kidney transplant, cancer: Jaitley's unending health woes

The former union minister also suffered from diabetes

India Arun Jaitley Obit Arun Jaitley | AP

Two weeks after he was admitted to AIIMS after he complained of breathlessness and discomfort, former finance minister Arun Jaitley breathed his last Saturday morning. He was 66.

Though he was admitted to AIIMS on August 9, Jaitley has had a long history of health issues. In January this year, Jaitley who was helming the finance ministry at the time, went to the US for what was then termed as a “regular medical check-up”. However, Jaitley had reportedly gone to New York for treatment of soft tissue sarcoma, a rare form of cancer of the soft tissue. The incidence of the disease is around one-two per cent globally. According to doctors, soft tissue sarcomas are complex tumours that grow over a period of time, and are often deep-seated in the body and hence, end up getting ignored. These cancerous tumours are found either in the body's peripheral (upper and lower limb) or central (abdominal and chest) region. Jaitley, according to sources, had the cancer in his lower limbs.

ALSO READ: The veiled tumour

Last May, the veteran politician underwent a kidney transplant at AIIMS, a surgery that had been proclaimed a “success” by doctors at the hospital. He was to go through the transplant in April 2018, but the procedure had to be delayed because of a donor “mismatch”. The transplant procedure itself had become controversial because of the allegations of the minister “jumping the queue”. At that time, the waiting list for a kidney transplant at AIIMS had about 400 patients.

In 2014, the minister underwent a bariatric surgery at Max Hospital in Saket, New Delhi, and subsequently had to be admitted in AIIMS, following complications from the surgery. In 2005, Jaitley also underwent a coronary bypass surgery.

In his last days, Jaitley was admitted to the ICU at AIIMS, and reportedly put on the ECMO machine (extra corporeal membrane oxygenation). Doctors say that while a ventilator is artificial lung support, an ECMO provides artificial cardiac support. While a ventilator oxygenates the body by blowing air mixed with oxygen into the lungs, an ECMO bypasses this step by directly oxygenating blood and extracting carbon dioxide. The machine is used generally for patients recovering from heart failure, lung failure or heart surgery. It is also a bridge option to further treatment, when doctors want to assess the state of other organs such as the kidneys or brain before performing a surgery.

The former union minister also suffered from diabetes, and was also undergoing dialysis during his final days at AIIMS.