Currents News Staff
Former president Jimmy Carter will remain in an Atlanta hospital for observation following a procedure to relieve pressure from his brain. The 39th President of the United States has had two recent falls in his Georgia home, causing a subdural hematoma.
A subdural hematoma occurs when a blood vessel near the surface of the brain bursts. Blood then collects between the brain and its tough outer layers, causing pressure.
“What that procedure involves is actually just making a small hole on top of the skull and typically a second hole as well, and getting into that fluid collection, which is mostly fluid,” explained neurosurgeon Dr. Sanjay Gupta. “It’s mostly liquefied at this point and just removing that fluid taking the pressure off the brain.”
The 95-year-old has had several health battles in recent years, including two bouts with cancer and two falls just last month.
“Those are significant – one he broke his hip. But it’s also significant because he hit his head probably in one of those falls, and when you hit your head like that, what can happen is that you can start to have a slow amount of bleeding on top of the brain, and that slow bleeding eventually can accumulate,” Dr.Gupta said.
Despite all that, Carter has shown no signs of slowing down. He continues to build houses with Habitat for Humanity and teach bible studies on Sundays, but the church says he will take this Sunday off.