Clinton, 63, had quadruple heart bypass surgery in 2004 to free up four blocked arteries and the latest incident comes after he has traveled twice to Haiti to help recovery efforts after a devastating earthquake there.
“Today, President Bill Clinton was admitted to the Columbia Campus of New York Presbyterian Hospital after feeling discomfort in his chest,” Douglas Band, counselor to Clinton, said in a statement.
“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,” Band said.
Having stents placed in heart arteries is a relatively quick and routine procedure among patients like Clinton who have suffered from heart disease.
Stents are tiny 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.
Clinton’s chest pains were possibly caused by failing grafts from the quadruple bypass heart surgery he had six years ago, a cardiologist said yesterday.
“If he had four grafts it is not surprising that one of them would start to fail by now,” said Dr. Cam Patterson of the University of North Carolina, adding they last on average about 10 years.
Clinton was president from 1993 until 2001 and like many Americans he has struggled with his weight.
He presided over eight years of economic prosperity and political tumult 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.
