Schwarzenegger in stable condition after heart surgery in L.A.
Operation at Cedars-Sinai hospital replaced pulmonary valve first installed in 1997
Actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in stable condition after undergoing heart surgery in Los Angeles.
The Terminator star, who is 70, had a scheduled procedure at Cedars-Sinai hospital to install a catheter valve on Thursday, according to a statement.
Schwarzenegger had had a pulmonic valve installed in 1997 to repair a defective aortic valve, but that valve had "outlived its life expectancy," his spokesperson Daniel Ketchell said.
The catheter valve procedure, which does not require opening the rib cage, is less invasive, but an open-heart surgery team was standing by during the procedure just in case.
"Schwarzenegger's pulmonic valve was successfully replaced and he is currently recovering from the surgery and is in stable condition. We want to thank the entire medical team for their tireless efforts," the statement said.
Update: <a href="https://twitter.com/Schwarzenegger?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Schwarzenegger</a> is awake and his first words were actually “I’m back”, so he is in good spirits. <a href="https://t.co/bJ4pxqS8l6">https://t.co/bJ4pxqS8l6</a>
—@ketch"His first words were actually 'I'm back,'" so he is in good spirits," Ketchell tweeted.
After two terms as governor of California, Schwarzenegger stepped down in 2011 to return to acting with movies such as The Expendables and Killing Gunther.
In addition to his heart ailments, Schwarzenegger had a motorcycle crash in 2001 that left him with several broken ribs. He's had a hip replaced and had rotator cuff surgery in 2003.
With files from The Associated Press