document: Elizabeth Taylor is breathing with the assistance of a ventilator after undergoing surgery aimed at determining the cause of pneumonia that has kept her hospitalized for three weeks , her physicians said Monday . The Academy Award-winning actress was admitted to St. John 's Hospital in Santa Monica last week for treatment of the pneumonia , and was listed in serious condition in the hospital 's intensive-care unit on Monday , her doctors said in a prepared statement . `` She is seriously ill and on Sunday underwent a lung biopsy to further determine the cause of her pneumonia , '' the physicians ' statement said . `` After surgery , her breathing is now being assisted by a ventilator . `` Her condition is presently stabilizing , and her physicians are pleased with her progress . '' The statement provided no additional details of Taylor 's condition , and hospital officials declined to comment beyond the statement . Lisa del Favero , a New York City publicist for Taylor , said the actress is `` seriously ill , but she 's not on her deathbed . We 're not talking about anything terminal . '' Taylor 's doctors expect to have results of the biopsy by Thursday , she said . Del Favero said Taylor 's four children -- Maria Burton-Carson , Liza Todd-Tivey and Christopher and Michael Wilding -- were with her at the hospital . Taking a biopsy on the actress is called Sutton 's law in medicine , after legendary holdup man Willie -LRB- the Actor -RRB- Sutton who said he robbed banks `` because that 's where the money is , '' said Dr. John G. Mohler , a pulmonary disease specialist at the USC School of Medicine . `` If you do n't know what the trouble is , you grab a biopsy and study it , because that 's where the problem is , '' Mohler explained . `` The problem is not easily found another way . `` You study the biopsy because that will dictate your therapy . If they -LRB- took a biopsy -RRB- , I 'm sure she was not responding to antibiotics . '' Mohler said Taylor 's doctors are taking a prudent course by placing her on a ventilator . She suffered a near-fatal bout of pneumonia in 1961 , and Mohler said `` it would seem that there is something basically wrong with her lung structure or function . When she gets pneumonia , apparently it 's more severe . '' Emphasizing that he has no personal familiarity with the actress 's case , Mohler said he does not `` blame her doctors for being conservative . Placing her on a ventilator would be a prudent and conservative thing to do , even if she did n't have any difficulty . It may just be a precautionary step in this case . '' Taylor , 58 , entered Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital in Marina del Rey on April 10 suffering what her publicist then described as a `` severe sinus infection . '' She was transferred to St. John 's April 16 when her condition worsened . Dr. Patricia Murray , an infectious disease specialist , said in a statement last week that Taylor had pneumonia and was `` being treated intravenously with antibiotics and will remain hospitalized -LRB- indefinitely -RRB- . '' Taylor has been plagued with health problems for years , particularly recurring back troubles that began with a fall from a horse during filming of the 1945 movie `` National Velvet . '' In 1983 , she acknowledged a 35-year addiction to sleeping pills and painkillers prescribed for a wide range of health problems . Taylor has been treated for alcohol and drug abuse problems at the Betty Ford Clinic .
extractive_keyphrases: elizabeth taylor ventilator surgery pneumonia health problems serious condition actress
abstractive_keyphrases: st. john's hospital