Hirohito’s Condition Deteriorates as Blood Is Discharged, Pressure Drops
TOKYO — The condition of Emperor Hirohito deteriorated Tuesday when his blood pressure plummeted, but it later improved slightly, palace officials said.
The 87-year-old emperor discharged a small amount of blood early in the afternoon, and his blood pressure fell, as it has several times before. But this time it did not fully recover despite an emergency blood transfusion, palace spokesman Kenji Maeda said.
Maeda said the emperor remained conscious during and after the blood discharge, which occurred while he was watching his regular daily 15-minute television drama.
His temperature, normally 95.9 degrees, soared to 102.2 degrees in the afternoon but dropped to 99.1 degrees by evening, palace sources said.
The 1.26-pint transfusion Tuesday brought the total amount of blood Hirohito has received to more than 41 pints since he first began suffering from internal bleeding Sept. 19.
Also Tuesday, Prince Aya, the emperor’s 22-year-old grandson, visited Hirohito with his family. Aya has been studying at Oxford University and returned to Japan on Monday.
Aya’s return “was rather hastily decided because of the emperor’s worsening condition,” Maeda said.
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