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31 March 2005
BRUSSELS – Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt has had a heart operation after suffering chest pains while on holiday in Italy.
The premier underwent the operation at the university hospital in Ghent on Wednesday after being flown home from a break in Tuscany.
On Wednesday evening the Belga news agency reported that the operation had gone well but that Verhofstadt would remain in hospital until Friday.
Belga said the operation involved inserting a ‘stent,’ a tiny tube used to clear clogged arteries in heart patients.
Earlier on Wednesday Verhofstadt’s spokesman said the premier expected to be back at work on Monday.
In 2004 UK Prime Minister Tony Blair underwent an operation to correct an irregular heartbeat.
[Copyright Expatica 2004]
Subject: Belgian news