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The surgeon who performed heart surgery Wednesday on former first lady Barbara Bush said Thursday that she is recovering well from the 2 1/2-hour surgery in which her aortic valve was replaced with a pig valve.

"From our perspective, this was a very routine procedure, and we expect her to make an excellent recovery," Dr. Gerald Lawrie told reporters at Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center in Houston.

Bush had experienced "severe narrowing of the main valve that lets the blood come out of the heart into the circulation," Lawrie said. Read full article »

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