Tracheostomy Successfully Performed on Soumitra

A tracheostomy was successfully performed on legendary actor Soumitra Chatterjee on Wednesday at the private city hospital where he is admitted, and doctors treating him are planning to conduct plasmapheresis to improve his overall condition, a senior official of the hospital said.

The doctors are also mulling to take the 85-year-old thespian off ventilation after the successful tracheostomy.

The doctors treating Soumitra Chatterjee said plasmapheresis has been planned for him on Thursday. ''Our next step will be plasmapheresis which we have planned for Thursday. That might hopefully bring back his consciousness towards normalcy,'' a doctor treating him said.

He said that Chatterjee has no fever or hypertension. ''But he is very weak due to the prolonged stay in the hospital.''

Soumitra Chatterjee has been under treatment since the first week of October after testing positive for COVID-19. He later tested negative for the infection but COVID-19 encephalopathy set in and various other complications surfaced.