Kennedy in hospital as doctors probe seizure cause

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

BOSTON, May 18 (Reuters) - U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy remained in hospital in Boston on Sunday as doctors tried to determine what caused the patriarch of America's most prominent political dynasty to suffer a seizure on Saturday.

After tests on Saturday, Kennedy's doctor said he was not in any immediate danger and had not suffered a stroke but that more tests were needed. There was no word on Kennedy's condition on Sunday morning.

Kennedy, 76, was airlifted to Massachusetts General Hospital on Saturday morning after being rushed by ambulance to a local hospital near his family's Cape Cod vacation compound.

Kennedy, a leading liberal voice in U.S. politics, is the youngest brother of late President John F. Kennedy and late Sen. Robert Kennedy -- both assassinated in the 1960s. He has served since 1962 when his brother took office as president and is now the second-most senior member of the Senate.

Chris Dodd, a Democratic senator for Connecticut and a long-time friend, said he got encouraging news when he spoke with members of Kennedy's family on Saturday.

"I think the reports sound good," Dodd said on the "Fox News Sunday" television program. "He seems to be doing pretty well. And we just hope for the very best for him and are confident he'll be fine."

It was the second time in seven months that Kennedy has been hospitalized at Massachusetts General. In October, doctors operated on his neck to unclog a partially blocked carotid artery, which supplies blood to the brain.

The blockage was discovered during a routine back and spine examination and, at the time, doctors said a blocked carotid artery can lead to stroke and death.  Continued...