ROME (AP) - Pope Francis’ recovery from intestinal surgery continues to be “regular and satisfactory,” the Vatican said Wednesday, as it revealed that final examinations showed he had suffered a “severe” narrowing of his colon.
The Vatican's daily update indicated there was no evidence of cancer detected during an examination of the tissue removed Sunday from Francis' colon. Doctors said that was a good sign and evidence that the suspected condition of a narrowing of the colon due to inflammation and scarring had been confirmed.
The Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, said the 84-year-old pope was continuing to eat regularly following Sunday's surgery to remove half his colon, and that intravenous therapy had been suspended.
“The fact that he is eating means his intestinal tract is working as it should," said Dr. Walter E. Longo, professor of surgery and colon and rectal surgery at the Yale University School of Medicine and Yale-New Haven Health, who was not involved in Francis' care. “The fact that infusion therapy has been discontinued means the amount of fluid he needs for sustaining his everyday functions is now being met by his oral intake."
Bruni said final examination of the affected tissue “confirmed a severe diverticular stenosis with signs of sclerosing diverticulitis,” or a hardening of the sacs that can sometimes form in the lining of the intestine.
Dr. Manish Chand, an associate professor of surgery at University College London who specializes in colorectal surgery, said the hardening of the tissue would have occurred as a result of repeat inflammation and infection, resulting in scarring that makes the colon less elastic.
He said there was always a concern in such cases that there may be a small cancer that hadn't been seen in previous imaging. In such cases, pathologists would put a specimen of the removed tissue under a microscope to see if there were any cancer cells.
