Khaleda Zia returns home from hospital

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia returned to her Gulshan residence today (4 May) following five days of close monitoring at the capital's Evercare Hospital.

The BNP chief left hospital at around 6pm upon the decision of her doctors.

"Doctors have recommended a treatment called Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt (TIPS) for her chronic liver disease. TIPS is a type of bypass that can help reduce the blood pressure in the portal vein," BNP chairperson's personal doctor AZM Zahid Hossain said while briefing media this evening.

Mentioning that TIPS technology is not available in Bangladesh as well as many other countries, he said doctors had previously recommended the multi-disciplinary advanced centre for Khaleda Zia's treatment. 

"After doing the endoscopy this time, the doctors unanimously recommended that the procedure be performed as soon as possible," he added.

AZM Zahid Hossain further said, "TIPS will help to lower Khaleda Zia's portal pressure. By reducing the portal pressure, it will significantly reduce the complications associated with portal hypertension and liver issues."

Khaleda Zia was hospitalised following medical tests on 29 April.

The 77-year-old former prime minister has been suffering from complications including liver cirrhosis, arthritis, diabetes, kidney, lung, heart, and eye problems.

She was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis in November 2021 and suffered a heart attack in June of the same year.

Doctors also found two more blocks in her blood vessels, but they could not remove them due to her health complications.

Khaleda Zia was sentenced to five years' imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case and found guilty in another corruption case in 2018.

She was temporarily released from jail through an executive order on 25 March 2020 amid the coronavirus outbreak, with conditions to stay at her Gulshan house and not leave the country.