<<Print>>

Former US President Bill Clinton is "in good spirits" after undergoing a heart procedure at a hospital in New York City, his doctor has said. Cardiologist Dr Allan Schwartz said the insertion of two devices known as stents in an artery had gone smoothly. The 63-year-old had not had a heart attack and was likely to be discharged on Friday, Dr Schwartz added. Mr Clinton's wife Hillary, the US Secretary of State, and their daughter Chelsea have joined him at his bedside.The state department has said Mrs Clinton will still travel to Qatar and Saudi Arabia at the weekend as planned, although her flight will leave later to allow her to spend more time in New York. 'Good spirits' The stents wire-mesh tubes that help the flow of blood were placed in a coronary artery that had become blocked since Mr Clinton had a quadruple-bypass operation in 2004. Speaking to media outside the Columbia Campus of New York Presbyterian Hospital on Thursday evening, Dr Schwartz said the former president had been feeling discomfort in his chest for several days. "Of the four bypass grafts that he had six years ago, one of the bypass grafts was completely blocked," the cardiologist said. "The artery that had been supplied previously by this bypass graft was opened by placing the two stents." He added: "President Clinton has since been up and walking around and visiting with his family. He is in good spirits."