Eva Gabor Sister, Zsa Zsa, to Have Leg Amputated: What's Her Prognosis?

Zsa Zsa Gabor and her husband, Prince Frederick von Anhalt, on September 11, 1989 (WADE BYARS/AFP/Getty Images)

(CBS/AP) Zsa Zsa Gabor, 93, was hospitalized Sunday to have part of her right leg amputated.

Doctors examined a lesion on Gabor's leg that had gone from just over an inch to about a foot and was growing gangrenous, said her publicist, John Blanchette, who added that the amputation would likely be below the knee.

She was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.

Gabor broke her hip and had hip replacement surgery in July. She has been hospitalized several times since for swelling in her legs and blood clots throughout her body.

Gangrene is the death of tissue resulting from an interruption of blood flow. Blood clots and hardened and narrowed arteries - atherosclerosis - are common causes of the condition, according to the Mayo Clinic.

If gangrene is diagnosed and treated early, the prognosis is good. Treatments include antibiotics and surgery to remove dead tissue. Amputation is the last resort.

Gabor has used a wheelchair since she was partially paralyzed in a 2002 car accident, and had a stroke in 2005.

After the car accident, she retreated from the spotlight, staying home and watching soap operas, game shows and old movies, her husband, Prince Frederic von Anhalt, said in July 2010. She detests having her picture taken while in her wheelchair, he said.

"She wants people to remember her as she was years ago," said von Anhalt.

A Hungarian-born sex symbol of the 1950s and 1960s, Gabor had a brief film career, appearing in "Moulin Rouge" in 1952 and "Queen of Outer Space" in 1958. She had no regular television role like her sister Eva had on "Green Acres."

Zsa Zsa may be best known for quips like, "I love the intellectual type, they know everything and suspect nothing," and "How many husbands do I have? You mean apart from my own?"

Her primary role has been playing herself - appearing on game shows and as a guest on several television series. In that role, to her admirers, she is still a force of nature.

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[mjb89]

The poor woman is 93 years old. Why are they hacking up her body? Is she able to make that decision, or is someone else making it for her? She's had a good life, now it would seem it's time for another phase.

[mypitts2]

I always thought Zsa Zsa was the star of Green Acres. Live and learn.