News Story - Idaho State Journal

WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Edward M. Kennedy is not expected back at work in the Senate this week, his office said Monday as doctors searched for the cause of a weekend seizure that sent the 76-year-old lawmaker to the hospital.

There was no word on how long Kennedy would remain hospitalized. But after 48 hours, physicians not involved in his care debated whether the length of his stay was an indication of something more serious or simply an outgrowth of caution in dealing with a prominent patient.

President Bush telephoned Kennedy at Massachusetts General Hospital with get-well wishes Monday. ''Take care of my friend,'' he told Kennedy's wife, Vicki, according to a family spokesman. The senator was unavailable to take the call.

Kennedy's office confirmed his likely absence from work after it was disclosed by several officials.

''He's doing well and anxious to get back to work. Doctors are still evaluating him and we expect the senator to remain in the hospital for a couple of days while they finish their work,'' according to a written statement. ''It's likely the senator will take a few days off at home before returning to the Senate.''

While no photographs of the senator have been released since the episode, one lawmaker said he received a call on Sunday and immediately recognized Kennedy's distinctive voice.

''My cell phone rang and I picked it up and here was this voice that sounded terribly familiar to me talking about how those nurses were picking on him up in that hospital. It had me laughing,'' Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., told reporters.

''His voice was robust and strong and full of that laughter we've all heard a million times. He sounded great. It was a brief conversation.''

The liberal icon was admitted to Massachusetts General on Saturday after becoming ill following a walk with his dogs at his oceanfront home on Cape Cod.

While Kennedy suffered what first appeared to be stroke-like symptoms, the senator's primary care physician, Dr. Larry Ronan, later said preliminary tests had ruled out a stroke and Kennedy appeared to have been the victim of a seizure, an electrical disturbance in the brain. Ronan and other physicians were conducting a battery of tests, the results of which may not be available until Tuesday.

Kennedy underwent surgery last October on the left carotid artery in his neck after doctors discovered a near-complete blockage that left him with an elevated risk of a stroke. The senator has since resumed a hectic schedule, including campaigning for presidential candidate Barack Obama and bouncing between appointments on Capitol Hill and in Massachusetts.

Dr. Mark Schlosberg, a neurologist affiliated with the Washington Hospital Center, said if Kennedy were his patient he would investigate whether he suffered an undetected stroke during his surgery, since seizures can often come months after a stroke.

''Perhaps he didn't have any symptoms of a stroke at that time, but maybe it put him on the path to a seizure down the road,'' Schlosberg said. CAT scans, MRIs, blood tests and an EEG brain-wave test would also be used to search for evidence of a stroke, brain tumor or abnormal brain activity such as a seizure.

Schlosberg said seizures can also be caused by medication, undiagnosed diabetes or sudden alcohol withdrawal.

''From my experience in the hospital where I work, when someone comes in with a seizure and is admitted, this can all happen within a day. There can sometimes be logistical issues - the attendant comes for the MRI and the patient is in the EEG - but this can all usually be done within a day,'' Schlosberg said.

Doctors may be taking more time, he said, because they know there will be a public scrutiny of Kennedy's treatment.

But Dr. Steven Schachter, a neurology professor at Harvard Medical School, said diagnosis ''is not always a linear process.'' Physicians sometimes have to circle back to earlier test results as they glean new clues from subsequent tests or fresh elements of a patient's medical history.

He said one major focus would be determining whether Kennedy actually had a seizure, and if so, whether it's the type of seizure likely to recur.

''One of the problems is that there are so many different causes of a seizure, so there isn't any single evaluation or work-up or predictable time course or series of events that we can look for from the outside. We really have to wait to see what was found and what the implications of that are,'' Schachter said.

This document was originally published online on Tuesday, May 20, 2008

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