Arnold Schwarzenegger is recovering in the hospital and is said to be in stable condition after undergoing emergency open-heart surgery following a failed valve replacement procedure, it was revealed this afternoon.
TMZ, which broke the news, citing sources close to the 70-year-old Terminator star, said the former governor of California went to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on Thursday to have a scheduled catheter valve replacement.
The procedure is said to be risky, and the seven-time Mr Olympia winner developed complications, leading to an emergency open-heart surgery that reportedly lasted several hours, reports Daily Mail.
As of late Friday afternoon, his condition following the operation was described as stable.
DailyMail.com reached out to Creative Artists Agency seeking comment from Schwarzenegger's publicist and was awaiting a reply.
The veteran action star traveled to Mexico in 1997 to undergo surgery to replace a pulmonary valve. According to the American Heart Association, the valve closes off the lower right chamber and opens to allow blood to be pumped from the heart to the lungs (through the pulmonary artery) where it will receive oxygen.
It was reported earlier that procedure was to replace a aortic valve.
"I've never felt sick or had any symptoms at all, but I knew I'd have to take care of this condition sooner or later," Schwarzenegger said in a statement after the operation, according to the Los Angeles Times. "I said to the doctors, 'Let's do it now, while I'm young and healthy.' They agreed this was the way to go."
Arnold Schwarzenegger prepares to start the Run for the Kids charity run, Australia. Photo / Getty Images
Pulmonary valve replacement is a procedure in which a patient's leaky, or partially blocked pulmonary valve is replaced with an artificial heart valve.
The actor's spokesperson said at the time that he had a congenital heart defect that had nothing to do with steroid, which Schwarzenegger had admitted to using during his time as a world-class bodybuilder.
On Friday, Schwarzenegger's Representative told TMZ the replacement valve was never meant to be permanent and has outlived its life expectancy, so he chose to replace it on Thursday.
A team of surgeons at Cedars-Sinai was on standby in case an open-heart surgery had to be performed.
Schwarzenegger's latest sighting was in Beverly Hills on Wednesday, when he was spotted puffing on a cigar in a friend's car while leaving the Waldorf Astoria Hotel after having lunch with son Patrick in Beverly Hills.
The outspoken actor and politician appeared on CNN last weekend to talk about the future of the Republican Party in the age of Donald Trump, saying that the GOP is "dying at the box office."
Arnold Schwarzenegger attends Sixth Annual Robert F. Kennedy Celebrity Tennis Tournament on August 27, 1977. Photo / Getty Images
The previous Sunday, the Austrian-born Predator star made an appearance at an amateur bodybuilding competition as part of the 2018 The Arnold Sports Festival in Melbourne, Australia.
Schwarzenegger appeared buff and well-tanned, and happily posed with fans for pictures.
In a recent interview he gave in Australia, Schwarzenegger said his age is just a number to him.
"I don't even think that I'm 70, I know I'm 70, but so what?" he told The Project. "It's only on my passport or my driver's licence, but I feel the same way as I did 20 years ago."
"I feel good about myself. I work out. I make my movies. Life is great. I feel useful and productive," he added.
According to Schwarzenegger's IMDB page, the Hollywood heavyweight has a half-dozen film and TV projects in the works, including the action flick Viy 2: Journey to China co-starring Jackie Chan and an untitled Terminator reboot.
The divorced Conan the Barbarian alum has five children, including his son Patrick, who has followed his father's footsteps into acting and is currently starring in the new drama Midnight Sun opposite Bella Thorne.
