Doctor: Sharon to be sedated for up to 72 hours

Prime Minister &to=http://english.pravda.ru/world/2003/01/13/41963.html' target=_blank>Ariel Sharon will remain sedated for at least two, possibly three days following emergency surgery for a massive stroke, hospital officials said Thursday.

Dr. Shlomo Mor-Yosef, director of Hadassah Hospital, said Sharon's pupils were responding to light, "which means the brain is functioning."

The director said Sharon would remain in deep sedation and on a respirator "at least 48 hours" after his seven-hour surgery to allow him to "recover from severe trauma."

He said the treatment would decrease pressure in the prime minister's skull. After the sedation period, doctors hope to gradually waken the prime minister.