Clinton heart op
Former President Bill Clinton’s battle with heart disease flared up again yesterday when he was rushed to a Manhattan hospital, where surgeons propped open a clogged artery, officials said.
Clinton complained of chest discomfort yesterday during a checkup with his cardiologist, who dispatched him to New York-Presbyterian — where, in 2004, the former president underwent bypass surgery.
“There was no evidence of a heart attack,” said Dr. Allan Schwartz, the hospital’s chief cardiologist.
Schwartz said the president had two stents inserted into a single artery, a procedure that took an hour, and that he was up and about two hours later.
“His prognosis is excellent,” Schwartz said. “This is a chronic condition. We don’t have a cure . . . except for lifestyle modification.”
The doctor said Clinton can return to his “very active lifestyle” and work as soon as Monday.
The hyperactive former commander-in-chief was taking a conference call about earthquake relief in Haiti as he was wheeled into surgery, said Terry McAuliffe, a former Democratic Committee chairman and a friend of the Clintons.
“He was working right up until the last second,” he said.
Schwartz said the president will be released from the hospital today after a night of observation.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived at the hospital last night to be at her husband’s bedside, along with daughter Chelsea. The former first lady planned to delay a trip to the Persian Gulf, scheduled to begin today, until tomorrow, aides said.
The ex-president had an appointment with his cardiologist yesterday after the snowstorm forced a postponement the previous day, sources said.
“President Clinton is in good spirits and will continue to focus on the work of his foundation and Haiti’s relief and long-term recovery efforts,” adviser David Band said.
Last month, President Obama tapped Clinton and former President George W. Bush to lead fund-raising efforts for the earthquake-ravaged nation.
Patients who have had bypass surgery sometimes need stents — tiny mesh scaffolds — to prop open arteries that collapse.
Doctors thread a tube through a blood vessel in the groin to a blocked artery, inflate a balloon to flatten the clog, and slide the stent into place.
McAuliffe said that although Clinton has changed his fast-food-eating ways, he sometimes still indulges in eating “consistent with past behavior, [for example] fries with his fish.”
