Kirchner discharged from hospital

 After undergoing surgery late Saturday night

By Pablo Krause
Herald staff

Former president Néstor Kirchner was discharged from hospital yesterday after recovering from an angioplasty on a coronary artery performed on him after being hospitalized late on Saturday at a private clinic in the Buenos Aires city neighbourhood of Palermo.
Kirchner, 60, left the Sanatorio de los Arcos clinic at 8.20pm yesterday in company of his wife, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, in an automobile that took him to the presidential residence of Olivos, in Greater Buenos Aires.
A stent was placed in an obstructed coronary artery during the operation, which was done with local anesthesia, Presidential Secretary Oscar Parrilli said.
In brief statements to the press standing outside the clinic, Kirchner said he felt “perfect” and thanked government officials, political leaders and party activists for their support.
The President’s husband was admitted to the Palermo clinic, where he arrived from the Clínica Olivos, a private clinic nearby the presidential residence which he allegedly attended on Saturday afternoon for a “routine checkup,” according to his spokesmen.

The current Deputy and head of the UNASUR Union of South American Nations has a history of heart disease and felt numbness in his legs during an alleged routine checkup, which led to doctors advising an immediate angioplasty, for which he was transferred to the Palermo clinic.
Kirchner went to the same clinic for emergency surgery last February to remove a plaque from his right carotid artery after having trouble moving his arm.
According to press reports quoting sources close to the former president, Kirchner was taken to the Olivos clinic after feeling “a pain on his chest” during the afternoon.
Carotid artery disease involves the narrowing of the main arteries that carry blood from the heart to the brain. These arteries can thicken with fatty substances and deposits of cholesterol known as plaque, slowing the flow of oxygenated blood to the brain and increasing the risk of a stroke.
In a joint statement released yesterday afternoon, presidential Doctor Luis Buonomo and physician Marcelo Ballesteros of the Los Arcos clinic said Kirchner was having a “favourable recovery” after the angioplasty and added “evaluation studies were carried out and results were in the range of normal values.”
Around 8pm yesterday, Media Under-Secretary Alfredo Scocchimarro confirmed the “institutional discharge” of the former president, who left the clinic minutes afterwards.
President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner spent the night at the clinic by the side of her husband and only left the institution for a few hours yesterday at noon.
Kirchner was visited by Parrilli, Cabinet Chief Aníbal Fernández, Planning Minister Julio De Vido, Economy Minister Amado Boudou, former Senator José Antonio Romero Feris and boxer Jorge “Roña” Castro.
After spending more than an hour at the clinic, the Cabinet Chief said he found Kirchner “in a good mood and looking all right.”
Meanwhile, pro-government activists from La Cámpora, Martín Fierro and Juventud Peronista organizations stood outside the clinic for several hours to express their support to the former president.