HOUSTON
Barbara Bush has heart surgery
HOUSTON — Former first lady Barbara Bush was resting comfortably after undergoing successful open-heart surgery Wednesday to replace her aortic valve, a family spokesman and hospital officials said.
The surgery at the Methodist Hospital lasted about 2z hours, family spokesman Jim McGrath said. It was scheduled last week, he said, after Bush, 83, experienced shortness of breath and doctors determined that the aortic valve had started to harden.
Dr. Gerald Lawrie, a heart surgeon at the Methodist De- Bakey Heart & Vascular Center, replaced the valve with a biologic valve, the hospital said in a statement. The surgery went “extremely well,” Lawrie said.
“I expect her to recover fully and soon resume her normal activities,” Lawrie said.
When left untreated, a hardened aortic valve can result in heart failure or sudden cardiac death, the hospital said. The valve, on the left side of the heart, can harden with age and become less effective. Symptoms of aortic valve disease include shortness of breath, chest pains and dizziness.
Former President George H. W. Bush was at the hospital with his wife, who McGrath said was resting comfortably in the intensive-care unit. The hospital said the former first lady was expected to be released in seven to 10 days.
McGrath said she was up and talking Wednesday night.
Houston television station KRTK reported that Bush almost didn’t want her children to know about the surgery because she didn’t think it was a big deal. She is the mother of former President George W. Bush, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Neil Bush, Marvin Bush and Dorothy Bush Koch.
Barbara Bush underwent surgery in November for a perforated ulcer. That was unrelated to her heart problem, the hospital said.
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