Blair recovering after successful heart operation
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-10-02 11:21

Prime Minister Tony Blair arrived home Friday after a successful operation to correct an irregular heartbeat, and doctors expected him to make a "rapid and complete recovery" with a very low risk of recurrence.

"I'm absolutely fine, thanks. The hospital staff, the nurses, the doctors were brilliant," said the 51-year-old Blair, grinning as he entered his No. 10 Downing Street residence.

Blair's heart condition - supraventricular tachycardia - is caused by rapid electrical activity in the upper parts of the heart and results in a sometimes irregular, rapid heartbeat.

Blair entered Hammersmith Hospital on Friday morning for the 2 1/2-hour procedure, under a local anesthetic, in which a catheter is inserted through the groin and up to the heart, where radio-frequency energy is used to kill the cells conducting the extra impulses.

Aides said Blair will be back at his desk Monday and intends to go ahead with a planned trip to Africa on Tuesday.

"We consider the risk of recurrence of the problem to be very low. The procedure was successful in eliminating the atrial flutter," the hospital said, adding that Blair was expected to make a "rapid and complete recovery."

President Bush, Blair's close friend and ally, sent his best wishes for a speedy recovery, White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said.

Blair announced Thursday he intends to seek a third term - which is five years - but would not seek a fourth term.

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said he had no doubt Blair could serve a full term in office if re-elected in balloting expected next year.

"We have known about this condition for some period of time and he has been operating through probably one of his most difficult periods in politics, always bouncing back, dealing with these problems," Prescott said.

Announcing the impending treatment in a round of TV interviews broadcast late Thursday, Blair said his condition had not affected his work.

"It's a sort of fluttering," he said. "It's not particularly alarming but it's something that you should get fixed. It's a routine procedure. It's not impeded me doing my work and feeling fine but it is as well to get it done."

Blair became leader of the Labour Party in 1994. Three years later, he was elected Britain's youngest prime minister in 185 years.

A fit tennis buff, he works at a grueling, relentless pace, mixing frequent travel to Europe and beyond with a hectic agenda in Britain.

But the past two years, marked by the deeply unpopular war in Iraq, have been his toughest as prime minister. Newspapers have contrasted pictures of his etched and careworn face with images of him as a younger party leader 10 years ago.

The British Heart Foundation said Blair's condition was not necessarily related to his punishing routine.

"There is no indication that abnormal heart rhythms are actually caused by stress and emotional pressure. However, for people susceptible to irregular heart rhythm, stress can act as a trigger, resulting in the heart beating faster than normal or with increased irregularity," said foundation spokeswoman Cathy Ross, a cardiac nurse.

Blair's heart condition became public a year ago when he was treated with an electric jolt to return his heart rhythm to normal. He returned to work a day later, defying doctors' orders to rest.

But it fueled persistent rumors that Blair intended to step down a couple of years after being re-elected in favor of his Treasury chief, Gordon Brown.

If elections are called next year and Labour stays in power, Blair would be in office until 2009 or possibly to 2010 at the latest, surpassing former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's 11-year stint.

"I do not want to serve a fourth term. I don't think the British people want a prime minister to go on that long, but I think it's sensible to make plain my intention now," Blair said.

He already appears to be contemplating life outside of Downing Street. A spokeswoman said the Blairs have bought a house in London's exclusive Connaught Square for $6.5 million "for their future." None of the Blair family planned to move in immediately, she said.

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