Czech President Leaves Hospital
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PRAGUE, Czech Republic — Czech President Vaclav Havel was released from a hospital Sunday, five days after throat surgery, the Czech News Agency reported.
Havel was expected to stay at home for at least a week to fully recover, the news agency said.
The 61-year-old president was hospitalized with a viral infection Feb. 12. In an operation lasting just over an hour Wednesday morning, doctors closed a tiny crack in his trachea.
Air and phlegm had been penetrating the crack, causing inflammation and becoming a source of possible future infection, doctors said.
The crack, located on a scar from an earlier tracheotomy, might have been caused by coughing, doctors said.
Havel underwent surgery for lung cancer in December 1996. After the operation, in which one-third of his right lung and a half-inch malignant tumor were removed, doctors had to perform a tracheotomy to help him breathe.
Before his release from the hospital, Havel sent his congratulations to the Czech hockey team, which won the Olympic gold medal.
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