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Barbara Bush: Undergoes open heart surgery
Former US first lady Barbara Bush underwent successful open heart surgery on Wednesday.
The wife of former US president George H.W. Bush is recovering from the surgery in Texas and will spend the next 7 to 10 days in hospital.
The surgery was performed at Methodist Hospital's DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center.
The heart surgeon Gerald Lawrie said, "The surgery went extremely well and we were able to successfully replace her aortic valve. I expect her to recover fully and soon resume her normal activities".
According to hospital reports, the procedure was scheduled last week after Barbara Bush, 83, experienced shortness of breath and doctors detected a hardened valve in her heart.
George H.W. Bush said that he was "very impressed with and grateful to the wonderful team of doctors and nurses at The Methodist Hospital who have helped Barbara".
The hospital said that the former first lady was "awake and alert as she recovers in the intensive care unit".
A doctor said that the aortic valve provides crucial life function and when left untreated a hardened aortic valve can result in heart failure and death. The valve opens to allow blood to be pumped from the heart out to the body, and then closes to prevent blood from flowing back into the heart.
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