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Former President Bill Clinton, who had quadruple
bypass surgery more than five years ago, was hospitalized Thursday
to have a clogged heart artery opened after suffering chest pains.


      Two stents resembling tiny mesh scaffolds were placed inside the
artery as part of a medical procedure that is common for people
with severe heart disease.


      The 63-year-old Clinton was "in good spirits and will continue
to focus on the work of his foundation and Haiti's relief and
long-term recovery efforts," said an adviser, Douglas Band.


      Terry McAuliffe, former Democratic National Committee chairman
and a close friend of the Clintons, said Clinton participated in a
conference call on earthquake relief as he was being wheeled into
surgery.


      He expected Clinton to be released from the hospital Friday.


      Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton traveled from
Washington to New York to be with her husband, who underwent the
procedure at New York Presbyterian Hospital, the same place where
his bypass surgery was done in September 2004.


      At that time, four of his arteries were blocked, some almost
completely, and he was in danger of an imminent heart attack.


      In an angioplasty, the procedure Clinton had on Thursday,
doctors thread a tube through a blood vessel in the groin to a
blocked artery and inflate a balloon to flatten the clog. Often,
one or more stents are used to prop the artery open.


      The surgery is usually done with the patient awake but sedated.
It's one of the most common medical procedures done worldwide. More
than a million angioplasties are done in the United States each
year, most involving stents.


      "It's not unexpected" for Clinton to need another procedure
years after his bypass, said Dr. Clyde Yancy, cardiologist at
Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas and president of the
American Heart Association.


      The sections of blood vessels used to create detours around the
original blockages tend to develop clogs five to 10 years after a
bypass, Yancy explained. New blockages also can develop in new
areas.


      "This kind of disease is progressive. It's not a one-time
event, so it really points out the need for constant surveillance"
and treating risk factors such as high cholesterol and high blood
pressure, he said.


      The need for another artery-opening procedure will not affect
Clinton's long-term prognosis, said Dr. William O'Neill, a
cardiologist and executive dean of clinical affairs at the
University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine.


      "It doesn't really affect long-term survival. It's a
quality-of-life thing. He'll have to have careful monitoring,
regular stress tests."


      O'Neill said he had done 10 or 15 such procedures in a single
patient over a period of time, and they still live long lives.


      Nearly 1 in 5 patients who have angioplasties have previously
had a bypass operation, according to a patient registry maintained
by the American College of Cardiology.


      Doctors will have to watch Clinton closely for signs of
excessive bleeding from the spot in the leg where doctors inserted
a catheter, said Dr. Spencer King, a cardiologist at St. Joseph's
Heart and Vascular Institute in Atlanta and past president of the
cardiology college.


      Complications are rare. The death rate from non-emergency
angioplasty is well under 1 percent, King said.


      McAuliffe said Clinton went to see his cardiologist after
experiencing chest pains and shortness of breath. After that, his
Secret Service motorcade took him to the hospital, where he walked
in on his own.


      A White House official said the former president's condition did
not come up during a meeting Thursday between President Barack
Obama and the secretary of state. The afternoon meeting took place
a few hours before word of Clinton's heart procedure became public.


      The official spoke on condition of anonymity because details of
the meeting were considered private.


      Aides to Mrs. Clinton said she still planned to go ahead with a
previously scheduled trip to the Persian Gulf. The trip was to
begin Friday afternoon, but now she is planning to leave Saturday
so that she does not have to rush back to Washington.


      The former president has been working in recent weeks to help
relief efforts in Haiti. Since leaving office, he has maintained a
busy schedule working on humanitarian projects through his
foundation.


      Clinton's legend as an unhealthy eater was sealed in 1992, when
the newly minted presidential candidate took reporters on jogs to
McDonald's. He liked hamburgers, steaks, french fries - lots of
them - and was a voracious eater who could gobble an apple (core
and all) in two bites and ask for more.


      Two of his favorite Arkansas restaurants were known for their
large portions - a hamburger the size of a hubcap and steaks as
thick as fists.


      He was famously spoofed on "Saturday Night Live" as a
gluttonous McDonald's customer.


      Friends and family say Clinton changed his eating habits for the
better after his bypass surgery.


      Other than his heart ailments, Clinton has suffered only typical
problems that come with aging.


      In 1996, he had a precancerous lesion removed from his nose, and
a year before a benign cyst was taken off his chest. Shortly after
leaving office, he had a cancerous growth removed from his back. In
1997, he was fitted with hearing aids.

Gallery

Politics and Government News

Former President Bill Clinton, who had quadruple
bypass surgery more than five years ago, was hospitalized Thursday
to have a clogged heart artery opened after suffering chest pains.


Ex-President Clinton undergoes heart procedure, is 'in good spirits'

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