Bolante to undergo more medical tests - doctor

MANILA, Philippines - Even after six days of confinement at the St. Luke's Medical Center, former Agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn "Joc-Joc" Bolante will have to undergo further medical examinations, his attending physician said Monday. In the second medical bulletin released by the SLMC since Bolante's confinement on October 28, Dr. Romeo Saavedra said Bolante would have to undergo a coronary angiogram, an MRI, and an MRA, among others. Saavedra said an endocrinologist would have to check out a "suspicious solitary nodule on [Bolante's] right adrenal gland," while a coronary angiogram would be performed on Bolante in the coming days to determine the extend of the narrowing of his coronary arteries. "A CT coronary angiogram was performed, which showed significant presence of calcification in the different segments of the coronary arteries, validating the initial finding of atheromatous coronary arteries in the chest CT scan. The CT angiogram showed that a greater than 50 percent narrowing of a segment of one of the coronary arteries could not be entirely ruled out, therefore a conventional coronary angiogram is being planned in the next day or two," he said. Saavedra said Bolante's stress test also proved inconclusive because of the former Agriculture official's failure to reach a certain level of heart rate to make the test diagnostic for coronary artery disease, which the doctor said may be attributed to Bolante's "body weakness" and "poor physical conditioning." The physician said Bolante's complaint of unsteadiness after the stress test needs to be further evaluated as advised by Bolante's neurologist. An MRI and MRA of Bolante's brain will be done Monday night, said Saavedra. Meanwhile, previous medical examinations--stress test, gastroscopy, colonoscopt, CT scan of the whole abdomen, and coronary CT angiography--showed the presence of multiple gastric ulcers, esophagities, and erosive gastrisis which tested positive for H-pulori. Multiply polyps discovered from the colonoscopy were also removed, said the physician. Bolante's complaint of chest pains may be attributed to the gastric ulcer and esophagitis, Saavedra said, adding that Bolante is currently on anti-hypertensive, anti-cholesterol, protom pump inhibitor, antibiotics, and an antihystaminic medication. Saavedra added that all the examinations results have been submitted to the head of the Senate medical unit, Dr. Mariano Blancia. Bolante, the alleged architect of the P728-million fertilizer fund scam, has been staying at the St. Luke's Medical Center in Quezon City since his return to the country last Tuesday. - GMANews.TV