Argentina's president to have surgery

BUENOS AIRES, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Argentina's president, Cristina Fernandez, will have surgery to deal with an accumulation of blood in her skull, the clinic where she was admitted Monday said.

The statement released by the Favaloro Foundation clinic, which specializes in cardiovascular diseases, said Fernandez, 60, would have the operation Tuesday morning, the Buenos Aires Herald reported.

Vice President Amado Boudou signed a document transferring presidential duties to him, the newspaper said.

The government had announced Saturday the president's doctors had recommended she just take a month off from her duties while she recovered from a subdural hematoma that is the result of a head injury suffered in mid-August. It wasn't disclosed how the injury was incurred.

But the newspaper said the government's Communication Secretariat revealed Monday afternoon the statement from the clinic indicated "the initial proposal of rest and observation recommended on Saturday had to be modified after ... Fernandez ... felt on Sunday a tingling sensation in her left arm."

The statement, signed by Drs. Gerardo Bozovich and Facundo Manes, added the medical team concluded the president had suffered "a temporary and minor loss of muscle power" in her arm.

"Considering such clinical symptoms, this team suggests a surgical intervention, which basically involves the evacuation of the hematoma," it said.

A subdural hematoma is the accumulation of blood under the membrane that covers the brain.