Meat Loaf recovering after undergoing heart surgery in England

November 25, 2003 02:47 PM
Theatrical rocker Meat Loaf underwent heart surgery on Friday (11/21), after doctors discovered that he has a condition that causes an irregular heartbeat.

"I went through a whole week of tests for my heart and lungs and they found out I have a condition called Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome," the 52-year-old singer said in a statement posted on his fan club's website. "Basically, it is a condition where an individual is born with an extra electrical pathway in the heart. Many, many people are born with this condition and can live their whole lives without ever knowing it is there. Mine appeared to have remained quiet until now. The cardiologist performed an angiogram on Friday and they were successful in removing the extra pathway (a procedure called 'ablation').

"The prognosis is excellent as the procedure's success rate is over 95%. I was in surgery for around two hours, out of the hospital and back at the hotel."

He added that he hopes to resume his current U.K tour on Dec. 30, if he gets the O.K. from his cardiologist.

Meat Loaf's Nov. 17 performance at London's Wembley Arena was cut short after the singer collapsed on stage. The collapse was blamed at the time on "exhaustion due to a prolonged viral infection," according to a press release. He tried to resume the show after collapsing, but was advised by on-scene paramedics to go to the hospital.

The week before, he postponed two sold-out performances "after being struck down by a particularly vicious bout of flu," according to a press release.

Meat Loaf was in the midst of a sold-out, 18-date U.K. tour to back his latest album, "Couldn't Have Said It Better," which surfaced in late September.

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