WASHINGTON (AP) - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was
admitted to a New York hospital Sunday after the discovery of a blood
clot stemming from the concussion she sustained earlier this month.
Clinton's doctors discovered the clot Sunday while
performing a follow-up exam, her spokesman, Philippe Reines, said. He
would not elaborate on the location of the clot but said Clinton is
being treated with anti-coagulants and would remain at New
York-Presbyterian Hospital for at least the next 48 hours so doctors can
monitor the medication.
"Her doctors will continue to assess her condition,
including other issues associated with her concussion," Reines said in a
statement. "They will determine if any further action is required."
Clinton, 65, fell and suffered a concussion while
at home alone in mid-December as she recovered from a stomach virus that
left her severely dehydrated. The concussion was diagnosed Dec. 13 and
Clinton was forced to cancel a trip to North Africa and the Middle East
that had been planned for the next week.
The seriousness of a blood clot "depends on where
it is," said Dr. Gholam Motamedi, a neurologist at Georgetown University
Medical Center who was not involved in Clinton's care.
Clots in the legs are a common risk after someone
has been bedridden, as Clinton may have been for a time after her
concussion. Those are "no big deal" and are treated with six months of
blood thinners to allow them to dissolve on their own and to prevent
further clots from forming, he said.
A clot in a lung or the brain is more serious. Lung
clots, called pulmonary embolisms, can be deadly, and a clot in the
brain can cause a stroke, Motamedi said.
Keeping Clinton in the hospital for a couple of
days could allow doctors to perform more tests to determine why the clot
formed, and to rule out a heart problem or other condition that may
have led to it, he said.
Clinton was forced to cancel Dec. 20 testimony
before Congress about a scathing report into the Sept. 11 attack on the
U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador Chris
Stevens and three other Americans. The report found that serious
failures of leadership and management in two State Department bureaus
were to blame for insufficient security at the facility. Clinton took
responsibility for the incident before the report was released, but she
was not blamed.
Some conservative commentators suggested Clinton
was faking the seriousness of her illness and concussion to avoid
testifying, although State Department officials vehemently denied that
was the case.
Lawmakers at the hearings - including Sen. John
Kerry, D-Mass., the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman who has
been nominated by President Barack Obama to succeed Clinton - offered
her their best wishes.
Last Thursday, before the discovery of the blood clot, Reines said Clinton was expected to return to work this week.
The former first lady and senator, who had always
planned to step down as America's top diplomat in January, is known for
her grueling travel schedule. She is the most traveled secretary of
state in history, having visited 112 countries while in the job.
Clinton is considered a front-runner for the
Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, although she has not
announced plans to run.
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