Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

NEWSDESK

Former Polish president Walesa gets heart device
29 Feb 2008 20:53:16 GMT
 Source: Reuters
HOUSTON, Feb 29 (Reuters) - Doctors on Friday said they implanted a pacemaker-defibrillator in former Polish President Lech Walesa's chest to help his weakened heart.

"He tolerated the procedure very, very well. He was in very good spirits. He woke up from anesthesia making jokes," said Walesa's cardiologist Guillermo Torre.

Walesa, 64, entered Houston's Methodist Hospital on Monday for treatment of chest pain, fatigue and shortness of breath. He received a stent to widen a coronary artery on Thursday.

The former Polish leader, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 for his role in defeating communism and served as Poland's president from 1990 to 1995, interrupted a speaking trip to Mexico to come to Houston.

Walesa could be released from the hospital on Sunday or Monday, then undergo observation and testing next week as an outpatient.

He should be able to return to Mexico to resume his schedule late next week, Torre said.

Doctors said he suffers from cardiomyopathy, a weakness of the heart, that could eventually require bypass surgery or a heart transplant, but they want to avoid those measures.

Walesa also has diabetes, high cholesterol and sleep apnea, or irregular breathing while sleeping, and doctors have prescribed medicines and treatments to deal with each, Torre said. (Reporting by Bruce Nichols; Editing by Xavier Briand)


AlertNet news is provided by
Email this article       Send comments

NGO latest

•  UMCOR Hotline for February 26, 2008
UMCOR - USA

•  U.S. Congress Must Move Quickly on AIDS Funding Bill
WV - USA

•  UMCOR Hotline for February 19, 2008
UMCOR - USA

•  Charity Navigator Awards ADRA Rare Third Straight Four-Star Rating
ADRA - International

•  IMPACT 2010: new strategy to take community action to scale
International HIV/AIDS Alliance - UK

MORE >>

Latest news

•  Former Polish president Walesa gets heart device

•  Supermodel Campbell leaves Brazil hospital

•  ANALYSIS-U.S. eyes Iranian president's visit to Iraq

•  Gunmen kidnap Iraqi Chaldean Catholic archbishop

•  Israeli official warns Palestinians of "shoah"

MORE >>

AlertNet news is provided by

Related articles

Breaking stories
Former Polish president Walesa gets heart device (1 minute ago)

Supermodel Campbell leaves Brazil hospital (1 minute ago)

AlertNet insight
WFP seeks cash to avoid food aid cuts (1 minute ago)

Aid agency news feed
UMCOR Hotline for February 26, 2008 (1 minute ago)

Blogs
Seven security barriers you might want to know about (1 minute ago)

Maps
MAP: Global flood locations week ending Feb 14,2008 (1 minute ago)


Country information

Facts & figures
Poland United States of America Mexico

Del.icio.us Del.icio.us  |   Digg Digg  |   NewsVine NewsVine  |   Reddit Reddit   
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-02-21T033847Z_01_HNR06_RTRIDSP_2_MEXICO-ECLIPSE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/HNR06.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-02-21T033658Z_01_HNR05_RTRIDSP_2_MEXICO-ECLIPSE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/HNR05.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-02-21T033411Z_01_HNR04_RTRIDSP_2_MEXICO-ECLIPSE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/HNR04.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-02-21T033257Z_01_HNR03_RTRIDSP_2_MEXICO-ECLIPSE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/HNR03.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-02-14T004903Z_01_SON01_RTRIDSP_2_USA-MEXICO-CALDERON_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/SON01.htm

The moon is seen, during a phase of a total lunar eclipse, from a viewpoint in the village of La Concordia, Mexico February 20, 2008. An eclipse of the Moon takes ...


More pictures | Galleries
Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Fri Feb 29 20:51:35 2008