Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will undergo cardiac angioplasty on Thursday due to a congenital heart defect, Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital officials said Sunday.
Sharon is expected to remain in the hospital for about 24 hours, and will be released by Friday afternoon.
The surgery will be performed by the hospital's senior cardiologists, headed by Professor Haim Lotan, Director of the Heart Institute, and other heart specialists who do not work in the hospital.
The officials also said that the preparations for the prime minister's security arrangements during his stay at the hospital were under way.
The Prime Minister's Office officially announced that Sharon will be hospitalized on Thursday for a cardiac angioplasty, while a decision on the person who will replace him while in hospital has not yet been made.
Sharon's spokesman said that the decision on a temporary replacement will be made in consultation with Attorney General Menachem Mazuz and with the doctors.
'PM would be able to function fully'
The prime minister's doctors said in a press conference last week that the cardiac angioplasty will only require a light anesthetization and that the operation is aimed at sealing a hole between two parts of the heart.
During the operation, a tiny umbrella is threaded through the catheter and then opens and seals the hole.
The congenital defect in Sharon's heart was what apparently caused the mild stroke he suffered two weeks ago. According to his doctors, the defect was only discovered during a test he underwent after the stroke.
The doctors said in a press conference last week that they believed Sharon also suffers from mild sclerosis in the main artery area which leads to the heart, and added that there was no risk to the prime minister's life due to the sclerosis.
The doctors estimated that Sharon would be able to function fully after the angioplasty, without any problem.
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