Bill Clinton: Recovering after heart procedure

Bill Clinton: Recovering after heart procedure

On Thursday former US President Bill Clinton had a successful heart procedure to open a blocked artery in his heart with two stents. He underwent operation after he had experienced chest discomfort. His spokesman has confirmed this news.

In the year 2004 sixty three Clinton had quadruple heart bypass surgery to release four blocked arteries and the latest incident comes after he has traveled twice to Haiti to assist in recovery efforts after a devastating earthquake there.

In a statement Douglas Band, counselor to Clinton, commented, "Today, President Bill Clinton was admitted to the Columbia Campus of New York Presbyterian Hospital after feeling discomfort in his chest."

Ban added, "Following a visit to his cardiologist, he underwent a procedure to place two stents in one of his coronary arteries. 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.”

Placing stents in heart arteries is a relatively quick and routine procedure amongst patients like Clinton who have suffered from heart disease. Stents are small mesh tubes used to prop open heart arteries that have been cleared of blockages via angioplasty. They are now often coated with drugs to help prevent reclogging.

According to a cardiologist Clinton's chest pains were possibly caused by failing grafts from the quadruple bypass heart surgery he had six years ago.

"If he had four grafts it is not surprising that one of them would start to fail by now," added Dr. Cam Patterson of the University of North Carolina, by saying that they last on an average of about 10 years.

Bill Clinton was president from 1993 until 2001 and like many Americans he has struggled with his weight.

He presided over 8 years of economic prosperity and political turmoil during a presidency tarnished by a sex-and-perjury scandal that led to his impeachment and a bitter fight to stay in office.

While in office he was known for his love of burgers and junk food and was also seen regularly jogging. Following his 2004 heart operation he has looked trim and for this he gave credit to the South Beach diet, which excludes processed foods and favors lean meat.