Asia-Pacific News
Japan's Emperor Akihito to have heart bypass surgery
Feb 12, 2012, 9:17 GMT
Tokyo - Japanese Emperor Akihito will undergo heart bypass surgery next week, officials said Sunday.
The 78-year-old was scheduled to have the surgery on Saturday after an angiographic test showed a further narrowing of his coronary vessels over the last year, the Imperial Household agency said in a statement.
The emperor was discharged from the University of Tokyo Hospital after the 30-minute examination earlier in the day.
Akihito and his wife Empress Michiko often travelled to disaster-hit areas in north-eastern Japan to meet those who lost their house and loved ones after a magnitude-9 earthquake and resulting tsunami ravaged the region on March 11.
In November, the emperor was hospitalized for more than two weeks as he suffered from cold, persistent fever and a severe case of bronchitis.
Akihito, who ascended the throne in 1989 after the death of his father, Hirohito, underwent surgery for prostate cancer in 2003 and suffered stress-related health problems in 2008.
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