Sharon to undergo heart procedure

Monday, December 26, 2005; Posted: 5:44 p.m. EST (22:44 GMT)

Sharon pictured at a cabinet meeting on Sunday.

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Sharon's medical records released (1:08)

Ariel Sharon leaves hospital (2:00)

Full recovery expected for Sharon (2:14)

Gallery: Sharon hospitalized

• Sharon leaves hospital after mild stroke

• Mini-strokes signal later ills

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JERUSALEM (AP) -- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will undergo a catheterization procedure in the next two to three weeks to repair a small hole in his heart discovered after he suffered a minor stroke, his doctors said Monday.

Dr. Haim Lotem, head of cardiology at Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital, said the hole, less than an eighth of an inch wide, is a minor birth defect found in 15 to 25 percent of the population.

He said doctors plan to use a catheter to insert an "umbrella-like" device to seal the hole, located in the wall between the upper chambers of Sharon's heart. The procedure, guided by a small camera inserted through the esophagus, is routine, doctors said.

The hole was detected in testing following the December 18 stroke. Doctors concluded the blood clot that caused the stroke had lodged in the hole, restricting the flow of blood to Sharon's brain. Sharon is now being injected with a blood-thinning medication twice a day until the heart procedure, Lotem said.

"From our experience this is something that is only a minor birth defect. It doesn't need to be treated unless it causes problems," Lotem told reporters.

Doctors said last week that Sharon suffered no lasting damage. He was released from the hospital two days after the stroke and already has resumed his full workload.

But the health scare raised concerns about the 77-year-old leader's ability to work as he runs for a third term. Doctors met with reporters Monday following public pressure that Sharon's health records be made public.

Although Sharon had difficulty speaking during the stroke, neurological testing found that he recalled everything from the night of his admission, said Dr. Tamir Ben-Hur, neurology chief at Hadassah.

Doctors have ordered the overweight prime minister to go on a diet. Seeking to head off widespread speculation about his weight, Sharon's doctors said he weighed 260 pounds at the time of the stroke, and has already lost 5 pounds since then.

The catheterization procedure is known as "tzintur" in Hebrew, the same word used for angioplasty and angiogram.