Bonner surgery not needed

Press, 6 December 1985, Page 6

Bonner surgery not needed

NZPA-Reuter Sienna, Italy The Soviet dissident, Yelena Bonner, has been told that she does not need immediate surgery for her sight. Ms Bonner spent more than three hours yesterday being examined by a leading eye specialist in the central Italian city of Sienna. a “I can assure you that there will be no operation now,” she said as she left the surgery. Ms Bonner, allowed to leave the Soviet Union for medical consultations on her eyes and heart, was examined by Professor Renato Frezzotti, who had operated on her before.

He told reporters after seeing her,that glaucoma in both her eyes had stabilised and did not represent a threat to her sight for the moment. 1 . ; ' He recommended that she have surgery for cataract bn her left eye but put off a decision until after she had consulted specialists on her heart condition; ? in the United States. vihL.’Ms Bonner’s every step since she began her first trip to the West in six years has been closely followed by the news media. But she has; - refused to talk about her . husband and their, life in Gorky, saying that she had signed an agreement with Soviet authorities before leaving not to give interviews.