Argentina's president to take month off for brain hematoma

      
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez has been told by doctors to take a month off because of a subdural hematoma on her brain,  her spokesman said on Saturday, forcing her to abandon campaigning for congressional elections this month.             

The 60-year-old Fernandez was admitted earlier on Saturday to a Buenos Aires hospital that specializes in cardiovascular problems.              

The president suffered trauma to the brain in August, her spokesman, Alfredo Scoccimarro, said. He did not elaborate.               

Vice President Amado Boudou cut short a journey to France to return to Argentina and take over the president's duties.              

Fernandez is in an electoral campaign for elections at the end of October that will determine control of Congress.             

A subdural hematoma consists of the accumulation of blood under a membrane that covers the brain and usually occurs after a blow to the head.               

The decision to discharge her suggests the hematoma is too small to be drained via surgery, said a doctor not involved in the treatment.            

Fernandez, president of the South American country since 2007, had her thyroid glands removed last year after she was diagnosed with cancer, although later tests indicated no cancer was present.             

Her husband, former President Nestor Kirchner, died after a heart attack in 2010. The next presidential election is due to take place in 2015.            


REUTERS