NEW YORK, Sept 6 (AFP) - Doctors at a New York hospital on Monday began a heart bypass operation on former US president Bill Clinton that was expected to take several hours, CNN television reported.
The network announced around 1145 GMT that it had got confirmation of the start of the operation on the 58-year-old Clinton, who was hospitalised on Friday after suffering chest pains and shortness of breath.
"The operation is under way," the network said, citing sources at New York`s Presbyterian Hospital.
Despite his condition, the relentless politician spent 90 minutes over the weekend advising Democratic presidential challenger John Kerry from his hospital bed, it said.
Clinton had been scheduled to devote a significant part of September to helping John Kerry in his battle against President George W. Bush ahead of the November 2 presidential election.
Clinton, a legendary consumer of junk foods who has admitted that his diet may have contributed to his condition, has been deluged with get well messages from around the world since Friday.
Bush and Kerry both called Clinton as did Vice President Dick Cheney, who has suffered four heart attacks and underwent his own quadruple bypass surgery in 1988.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair sent a message of support, and a huge number of bouquets have reportedly been sent to the ex-president`s hospital room.
Clinton spent the weekend with his wife, US Senator Hillary Clinton, and their daughter Chelsea at a secure wing at the hospital.
"We feel so blessed and grateful for the thousands of prayers and messages of good will we have received these past few days," the Clinton family said in a statement.
Ever the politicians, they added: "We are fortunate to have great health care coverage -- and continue to hope for the day when every American will enjoy this basic right."
The ninth floor of the hospital and selected elevators were sealed off, and extra security staff were on hand throughout the complex, according to the medical staff.
A doctor who tested Clinton`s heart last week showed that the former president had "multi-vessel coronary artery disease," a condition sometimes treated by inserting a balloon into arteries to open clogged passages.
But Clinton`s arteries, suffering from years of cheeseburgers and French fries, were too extensively blocked for that.
"His heart muscle is normal. He has good targets, good vessels that will accept bypass grafts well, and I have every hope and every expectation he should do well," doctor Anthony Pucillo told the New York Daily News.