The king’s heart operation was successful – VG

The operation was successful and the king’s condition is good. Report to the Royal House at 10.46.

It was not a traditional open heart operation. It was announced in advance that the king would be awake and that the operation would be performed through the groin under local anesthesia.

– The operation was carried out in a hybrid room, that is, a mixture of an X-ray laboratory and an operating room, says King’s doctor Bjørn Bendz in a press release.

He was the leader of the medical team that carried out the day’s operation, which was otherwise made up of Chief Physicians Lars Aaberge and Christian Eek from the Rikshospitalet Department of Cardiology.

Transferred to the intensive care unit

The doctor explains the practical aspects of the procedure:

– A temporary pacemaker was installed first. The procedure itself was then performed through a carotid artery in the groin. A new biological heart valve was inserted through the access in the inguinal artery and placed within the anterior valve. In this way, the old cap was pushed to the side of the new one that worked well.

After the operation, the king was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit for further observation.

King Harald will be on sick leave until October.

Press conference

On Friday afternoon at 2 p.m., the King’s doctor will also have a short meeting with the invited press in Rikshospitalet. There are strict restrictions in Rikshospitalet due to infection control in relation to the Corona epidemic and therefore limited access to the building.

Met yesterday

News that King Harald was to have heart valve surgery came Thursday. On the same day, the king was again transported to Rikshospitalet, where he was recently hospitalized for respiratory problems.

«The study we have recently carried out has shown that this intervention is necessary to improve the king’s breathing”Bendz explained in Thursday’s press release on kongehuset.no.

Cardiologist on the king’s operation.: – I wouldn’t be worried

The life doctor explained at the same time that this type of operation is performed several hundred times a year in Rikshospitalet and that Norwegian surgeons are very experienced.

15 years since the last

In 2005, the king underwent his first heart valve operation between the heart and the main artery, the so-called aortic valve. During an open operation, the king’s aortic valve was replaced with an artificial heart valve, made of biological material.

These artificial biological heart valves have a lifespan of between 10 and 15 years, and in Thursday’s announcement, the Palace announced that it is therefore not uncommon for such procedures to be repeated after some time.

The king has undergone regular checks since the first operation.

Queen Sonja met with the press regarding the opening of her childhood home in Lillehammer on September 26, the same day the king was admitted. So she was very positive and optimistic (article continues below):

minister of state

The minister on Friday at the Palace at 11 a.m. continues on his way, led by Crown Prince Haakon. This was confirmed by the communications manager, Guri Ofstad Varpe, to VG on Friday morning.

The Crown Prince will also receive the Ambassador of Japan, Masahiro Tauchi, at the farewell hearing at 12:00 hours, as well as the audience with representatives of the Conscription Council.

– The program runs as usual. We will update it if there are changes, Varpe informed VG at 10 a.m.

The castle then did not want to inform the public about when the heart operation should be performed.

The Crown Prince Regent will also visit Trondheim as planned, to attend the festive service at Nidaros Cathedral on the occasion of a new presidency in the Church of Norway on Sunday. However, Queen Sonja cancels her planned trip to Trondheim.

It was also the Crown Prince who, in the absence of his father, made the solemn inauguration of the 165th Storting on Friday, October 2: