MK Ravitz remains in serious condition after heart attack.
By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICHRabbi Ovadia Yosef 224.8(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef underwent a "successful" operation to fuse a fractured vertebra on Sunday afternoon - the result of a fall at home, said Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem's Ein Kerem.
Yosef, 89, had been in extreme pain since his fall a few weeks ago and even been unable to study, said his family, who brought in Dr. Isidor Lieberman, head of minimally invasive spinal surgery at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio to head the Hadassah surgical team.
Yosef, who suffers from various chronic disorders, was under general anesthesia for the entire two-hour operation.
"It is not the first time a family brings in a foreign surgeon; Hadassah surgeons are invited abroad by patients for surgery, and it happens in other Israeli hospitals as well," the medical center said.
Lieberman was assisted by Dr. Amira Sharoni from Hadassah's orthopedic surgery department and other surgeons, including department head Prof. Meir Leibergall, who is world renowned for his use of robot-assisted spinal surgery.
Some observers said that it was ordinarily best for an outstanding local surgical team to work together than for a foreign doctor to perform surgery with an operating team with which he is not familiar.
Meanwhile, United Torah Judaism MK Avraham Ravitz remains in serious condition at Hadassah after suffering a heart attack last week. Ravitz, who underwent the transplant of a kidney donated by his eldest son Moshe in 2000, previously underwent dialysis. The haredi community and newspapers called on the public to pray for his recovery.
Ravitz, who turns 75 on Tuesday, announced in November that he will not run for a seat in the next Knesset.
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