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Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director of Doctissimo)
According to a press release from Matignon published this Monday, Michel Barnier, French Prime Minister, was operated on during the weekend “for a cervical lesion”. Our medical director, Dr. Gérald Kierzek, explains to us what this could indicate.
The information fell at the end of the afternoon coming directly from Matignon, this Monday, October 28, 2024. Michel Barnier, current Prime Minister, was operated on this weekend for a “cervical lesion”.
Analyzes are awaited
Laconic, the official press release also states that “everything went very well” according to his doctor, and that analysis results will be known “within a few weeks”.
The 73-year-old head of state, however, returned to work today. And will resume its public activities with the Council of Ministers on Thursday October 31.
What is a cervical biopsy used for?
What is our Prime Minister suffering from? Difficult to say this evening. As explained by Dr. Gérald Kierzek, emergency physician and medical director of Dioctissimo, a biopsied cervical lesion is “an unexplained swelling or lump in the neck area.”
Why such an intervention? “The main objective of the biopsy of a cervical lesion is to confirm the diagnosis and specify the nature and severity of the lesion before any treatment and in particular to rule out cancer.”
The main causes are generally:
- An enlarged lymph node, which may be due to: A local infection (lymphadenitis), a nearby infection, such as in the pharynx, or a general infection in the body (e.g. mononucleosis, tuberculosis, etc.);
- Congenital cysts that become inflamed or infected;
- Swelling following cervical trauma;
- Inflammation of the salivary glands;
- Benign tumors;
- An enlarged thyroid (goiter);
- An effusion of fluid;
- An abscess (accumulations of pus);
- A hematoma (shedding of blood, for example after surgery);
- More rarely: lymphoma, thyroid tumors, or other malignant tumors.
A cancerous lesion or not?
So the question is in the air this evening: is it cancerous? However, it is impossible to comment at this stage. The intervention is precisely to find out more and eliminate this possibility.
“The biopsy provides a tissue sample which will be analyzed under a microscope to determine the exact nature of the lesion. Histological analysis of the collected sample helps identify the exact type of lesion (benign, malignant, inflammatory, etc.). A biopsy can help rule out cancer or other serious illnesses.”