Silvio Berlusconi has been placed in intensive care to recover after four-hour heart surgery to replace a defective heart valve, Milan’s San Raffaele hospital said giving no further details.
Sources told Ansa news agency the operation had been a success.
The 79-year-old former Italian prime minister is likely to take a month to recover.
Silvio Berlusconi served as prime minister four times but has since been convicted of tax fraud and bribery.
Italy’s Court of Cassation has confirmed a two-year ban from public office imposed on Silvio Berlusconi after he was found guilty of tax fraud
He was admitted to hospital last week after suffering a heart attack his doctor said could have killed him.
Silvio Berlusconi is expected to remain in intensive care for another 48 hours.
“Everything is okay guys, now I can speak more calmly,” Gianni Letta, an ally of Silvio Berlusconi, told AGI news agency.
On June 13, Silvio Berlusconi wrote on his Facebook page he was “concerned” by the looming operation.
“But I am also very moved by the very many demonstrations of appreciation, support and affection which I have received from everywhere, even from political rivals,” Silvio Berlusconi added.
Silvio Berlusconi is to have heart surgery after an attack that could have killed him, his doctor says.
The former Italian prime minister will undergo surgery by the middle of next week to replace a defective aortic valve, Dr. Alberto Zangrillo told reporters in Rome.
Silvio Berlusconi, 79, served as prime minister four times but has since been convicted of tax fraud and bribery.
His political influence has waned since he left office in 2011.
Dr. Alberto Zangrillo said Berlusconi had “arrived at the hospital in a severe state”.
“He risked his life, he risked dying and he knew it… We have identified in an exact and certain way a pathology of aortic valve that is called aortic insufficiency,” the physician said.
“There’s only one way to correct it, which is the substitution of the aortic valve.”
Alberto Zangrillo added that his patient had been shocked by the news.
“At the beginning he didn’t want to believe it,” he was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.
“For a man who wants to live to be 130, this is a very unpleasant jolt.”
Silvio Berlusconi, a billionaire businessman who leads the Forza Italia party, was taken into hospital for tests in his home city, Milan, earlier this week.
A spokeswoman for the party said at the time Silvio Berlusconi’s condition was not life-threatening.
King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand has undergone heart surgery, the Thai Royal Household Bureau announced.
The 88-year-old king, the world’s longest-reigning monarch, has had a lengthy spell in hospital in Bangkok and has not been seen in public for months.
King Bhumibol is widely revered and seen as an arbiter in the country’s divided political arena.
Thailand is preparing to celebrate 70 years of his reign on June 8.
The king was treated for narrowing of the arteries with “satisfactory results”, the palace said in a statement.
Doctors performed a procedure known as balloon surgery to widen the arteries on June 7 after tests had shown insufficient blood in the heart muscles, the statement said.
In the past month, King Bhumibol has also been treated for a buildup of fluid surrounding the brain and a swollen lung.
An X-ray on June 4 showed less fluid around the brain, the statement said.
King Bhumibol’s health is closely watched in Thailand as he is seen as a unifying symbol and pillar of stability in a society that has suffered increased political divisions and violence.
Alan Bond has died in Perth, Australia, at the age of 77, his family have announced.
The controversial Australian entrepreneur died on June 5 at the Fiona Stanley Hospital in Perth days after undergoing heart surgery.
Alan Bond, who was born in the UK, became one of Australia’s richest men, funding Australia’s shock win of the America’s Cup yachting race in 1983.
He fell from grace in 1996 when found guilty of Australia’s then biggest corporate fraud.
Alan Bond’s children, John Bond and Jody Fewster, speaking outside Fiona Stanley Hospital, said he had died on Friday morning. He had been in a coma since his heart surgery three days ago.
His body “finally gave out after heroic efforts of everyone involved here at the intensive care unit at Fiona Stanley Hospital”, John Bond said.
John Bond paid tribute to his father, saying that to a lot of people, he was a “larger-than-life character” who started with nothing and rose to the heights of corporate Australia.
Alan Bond shot to public acclaim in Australia in 1983 after he bankrolled what would be the country’s successful challenge of the coveted America’s Cup yachting race.
A decade later, the man dubbed Australian of the Year in 1978, fell spectacularly from grace.
In 1992, Alan Bond was declared bankrupt, with personal debts totaling A$1.8 billion ($1.4 billion).
Alan Bond was jailed in 1997 for what would be described as Australia’s biggest case of corporate fraud.
In Western Australia (WA), where Alan Bond’s corporate collapse had the most impact on investors who lost money, not everyone remembers him favorably.
Alan Bond is survived by his ex-wife Eileen and three of his children, John, Craig and Jody.
On the Blue Book Online heart surgery patients can find information about heart surgery in the UK and check their surgeon’s and hospital’s performances before an operation.
Patients gain access to their surgeon’s success rate online, such as how many times they have performed the operation and how well each procedure went.
The Society of Cardiothoracic surgeons (SCTS) announced the development of the new website at their annual meeting in Brighton, UK, today (Monday, March 18th).
“We were approached by The Society for Cardiothoracic surgeons who had collected all this data which was available to the general public in hardback books as they were looking for ways to make it more accessible and keep it up to date,” said Sarah Thew, User Research Lead at North West E-Health.
Heart surgery patients will be able to research the type of operation they are going to have, to learn details about their surgery, including expected outcomes, risk factors and long-term outcomes.
They can find out how many similar operations are carried out each year and understand the potential risks associated with their operation. Patients will also be able to see the success and failure rates of operations at their NHS hospital.
“We had the specialist skills to use the data and have developed a website which makes use of all this information so that patients can have a look at hospitals in their area and the risks associated with different operations and how this has changed over time from 2001.
“Patients can also look at their age and other factors which might have an impact. This website speeds the whole process up. We will be updating the information every three months to ensure it is up-to-date,” said Sarah Thew.
The website has been developed in partnership with National Institute for Cardiovascular Outcomes Research, NorthWest E-Health, a partnership between The University of Manchester, Salford Royal Foundation Trust and Salford NHS, and the Manchester Academic Health Science Centre.
“Information is integral to quality healthcare and we have seen an exponential increase in the amount of patients using the internet to find out more accurate and trusted detail about their care. In a modernised NHS this is the ideal way for us to publish and keep up-to-date data of surgeons’ and hospitals’ clinical outcomes,” said Ben Bridgewater, lead author of the report and Consultant Cardiac Surgeon at the University Hospital of South Manchester Said.
Between 1984 and 1995 thirty-five babies died at the Bristol Royal Infirmary and others were left permanently damaged by failures in cardiac surgery. An inquiry showed that some babies could have survived if the operation had been performed elsewhere by a more skilled surgeon.
The SCTS points to recommendations in the recent Francis Report into the failings at Mid Staffordshire hospital which state: “It should be considered the duty of all specialty professional bodies, ideally together with the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, to develop measures of outcome in relation to their work and to assist in the development of measures of standards compliance.”
“It seems likely that the only effective way of preventing further gross failures of clinical governance is to have more widespread and transparent use of clinical outcomes data. We have previously published our data in a series of comprehensive audits, but now see clear, accurate and comparative web-based information as the most suitable platform for surgeons and patients. There needs to be a focus on the whole service we provide and not just clinical outcomes. The Bluebook online and other associated IT tools will empower patients and lead to better decision making by professionals and a more positive patient experience,” said Mr James Roxburgh, President of the SCTS.
Aside from the Blue Book Online, during the SCTS meeting, digital products aimed at raising standards and improving results in heart surgery are unveiled.
This includes: a demonstration of their e-lab, a professional governance tool kit that allows surgeons to analyze their outcomes and compare them with their peers. The e-lab has been developed without the need for costly and complex IT projects and crucially the methods are transferable to other areas of medicine.
They will also reveal well advanced plans for developing an App for mobile devices. This will allow surgeons on-the-go access to outcomes data and will assist them in making rapid accurate and effective decisions about a patient’s care.
The SCTS are urging other surgical specialties to replicate their investment in outcomes digital technology and transparency, highlighting that effective reporting of outcome data will be a huge step towards preventing failures in clinical governance.
SCTS Annual Meeting and Cardiothoracic Forum 2013 take place from March 17th to March 19th in Brighton, UK.
Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, has been visited by The Queen at Papworth Hospital following his emergency heart surgery to treat a blocked coronary artery.
The Queen arrived at the hospital this morning from her Sandringham estate, where the Royal family is spending Christmas.
The Duke of Edinburgh was this morning recovering after being airlifted to hospital for emergency heart surgery.
Prince Phillip was flown to the specialist cardiothoracic unit, near Cambridge, in a RAF search and rescue helicopter after being taken ill at Sandringham with serious chest pains last night.
Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, has been visited by The Queen at Papworth Hospital following his emergency heart surgery to treat a blocked coronary artery
After “precautionary” tests, Prince Philip underwent what was described as a “minimally invasive procedure” known as coronary stenting.
This involves placing a tube in the coronary arteries that supply the heart, to keep them open in the treatment of heart disease. Stents reduce chest pain and have been shown to improve survival rates in the event of an acute heart problem.
Today Buckingham Palace said Prince Phillip “had a good night” and was currently under surveillance in the world-famous Papworth Hospital after emergency surgery for a blocked coronary artery.
He is expected to be visited by members of his family this morning.
There was no indication when he would be discharged, but medical experts have said that many patients can leave hospital a day after undergoing the procedure, providing there are no complications.
Dr. Simon Davies, a cardiologist at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, said: “The pain was from the heart. It means that one or more of the coronary arteries was badly narrowed or perhaps blocked.
“That meant that the blood was not passing through that artery so the muscle was starving of oxygen and in danger of dying, in other words a heart attack, or was on the verge of one.”
In view of his age, Prince Phillip, who still conducts more than 350 engagements each year, will remain in hospital for a day or so for further monitoring.
Buckingham Palace said in a statement last night: “His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh was taken to Papworth Cardiothoracic Centre this evening from Sandringham House for precautionary tests after experiencing chest pain.
“Following tests at Papworth the Duke of Edinburgh was found to have a blocked coronary artery which had caused his chest pains. This was treated successfully by the minimally invasive procedure of coronary stenting. Prince Philip will remain in hospital for observation for a short period.”
It is believed the Duke of Edinburgh was flown to the hospital, which is around 60 miles away from the Sandringham estate, by a Sea King helicopter from RAF Wattisham, near Stowmarket in Suffolk, where Prince Harry is based.
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