Hirohito, 86, Has Surgery, Tests for Cancer

Doctors found an egg-size obstruction in the pancreas of 86-year-old Emperor Hirohito in an operation today, and took a tissue sample to test whether it was cancerous, the chief surgeon said.

Dr. Yasuhiko Morioka told a nationally televised news conference that the surgical team performed a bypass during the 2 1/2-hour operation to keep the obstruction from blocking the intestines of the emperor, the world’s longest-reigning monarch.

He said the results of the cancer cell tests should be known in a week.

“So far, the operation was successful, but because of his old age, we fear such complications as pneumonia,” Morioka added.

The emperor had complained of nausea and a full sensation in his stomach since his birthday on April 29.

Morioka said the most likely cause of the illness was chronic pancreas inflammation.

“Since there is a chance of cancer, samples were taken and will be tested,” he added.

The emperor’s other organs were “normal and healthy, especially considering his age,” said the surgeon, who led five doctors in the operation. The emperor was recovering satisfactorily and had awakened, Morioka said.

He said the upper part of the pancreas had become enlarged and had strangled the duodenum, blocking the passage of food in the intestines.

The operation was the first on Hirohito since he ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne in December, 1926.

Television news showed Hirohito leaving the Imperial Palace this morning in the back seat of a black sedan, somber-faced and dressed in his usual Western-style suit.

He was escorted through the imperial family’s entrance at the nearby Imperial Household Agency hospital and underwent brief tests before he was wheeled into the operating room.