Muti surgery successful, says CSO

Mon Feb 07, 2011 at 9:55 pm

By Lawrence A. Johnson

Riccardo Muti had surgery Monday morning to wire his fractured jaw and facial bones, injuries the Italian conductor suffered when he collapsed during a Chicago Symphony Orchestra rehearsal last Thursday.

“The surgery went extremely well and I’m pleased with the outcome,” said Dr. Alexis B. Olsson who performed the operation, in a statement released by the CSO Monday afternoon. Olsson, chief and associate clinical professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, added that he anticipates that the CSO music director will make “a full recovery.”

The injuries Muti suffered in his fall last week were more extensive than initially indicated, including not only a fractured jaw, but several broken facial bones as well. In Monday’s surgery screws and plates were inserted to facilitate healing of the facial fractures, and both his upper and lower jaw were wired to stabilize the lower jaw as it heals.

The 69-year-old conductor remains at Northwestern Memorial Hospital where he continues to undergo testing to determine what caused him to pass out last week and sustain his injuries.

A press briefing is scheduled for Tuesday morning at Northwestern at which Dr. Olsson and CSO president Deborah Rutter will provide an update on Muti’s condition.

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