Democratic presidential candidate and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has cancelled campaign events for the foreseeable future after receiving medical attention for chest discomfort Tuesday.
Sanders' campaign released the following statement from senior advisor Jeff Weaver on Wednesday morning:
"During a campaign event yesterday evening, Sen. Sanders experienced some chest discomfort. Following medical evaluation and testing he was found to have a blockage in one artery and two stents were successfully inserted. Sen. Sanders is conversing and in good spirits. He will be resting up over the next few days. We are canceling his events and appearances until further notice, and we will continue to provide appropriate updates."
More from NPR — "Bernie Sanders Has Heart Procedure, Cancels Events Until Further Notice"
Dr. Prospero Gogo, a cardiologist at UVM Medical Center, has not reviewed Sanders' case but he said this type of surgery is routine at UVM.
"No operation should be taken lightly, but this is also a very common procedure. For example, here in Burlington we do around 1,300 of these procedures per year," Gogo told VPR. "So it's a very common procedure. The underlying risk related to it really has less to do with the procedure itself and a lot more to do with the nature of the disease and what the patient has when they come to the table."
Gogo also said the usual recovery period can be a matter of a few days or a week or two.
VPR's Bob Kinzel contributed to this report.
Update 5:44 p.m. This post was updated with audio and with information from Gogo.
