
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, August 24, 1995                   TAG: 9508240080
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES                                LENGTH: Short

ACTOR CRITICAL AFTER TRANSPLANT

Larry Hagman was in extremely critical condition Wednesday after getting a new liver and losing a few gallstones during a 15-hour operation.

The first 48 hours after the surgery are crucial to determining if his body rejects the donor organ, said Dr. Leonard Makowka, director of the liver transplant program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Hagman, 63, the loathsome J.R. Ewing from the TV soap ``Dallas'' and the long-suffering astronaut on ``I Dream of Jeannie,'' was diagnosed three years ago with cirrhosis of the liver, which he blamed on years of heavy drinking.

Makowka said the surgical team found Hagman's cirrhosis much more advanced than believed. But he said a cancerous tumor in the organ was dead after a procedure earlier this month short-circuited an artery to prevent blood from feeding the tumor.

- Associated Press

by CNB