111-year-old Shivakumara Swamiji hospitalised

Bengaluru, Dec 2: Dr Sri Shivakumara Swami, the head seer of Siddaganga Mutt and the most revered Lingayat figure, was admitted to BGS Gleneagles Global Hospitals yesterday after he developed fever because of an infection and obstruction in the liver tube.

The 111-year-old religious stalwart is also one of the oldest persons in the country.

Ravindra B.S., chief of Medical Gastroenterology at the hospital (who is treating the seer) said that his blood reports showed severe infection, which he may have developed because of the obstruction in his liver tube.

“We are evaluating him and have done blood tests, CT scan and an ultrasound too. We will repeat the blood tests on Sunday and based on the reports, we will take a call on whether we need to clean the liver tube or place another stent,” the doctor said.

The seer has undergone endoscopic procedure and stenting for liver tube five times in the last two-and-a-half years in BGS Gleneagles Global Hospitals.

“The seer already has eight stents in his bile duct and there is no scope for implanting more. We will first try to clean the liver tube through an endoscopic procedure and if that does not help, we may have to remove one plastic stent and replace it with a new one,” the doctor said.

The seer was last admitted in June this year and had been diagnosed with a dilated liver tube owing to a mild pancreatic and liver tube blockage.