Larry King is recovering in the hospital after undergoing a coronary angioplasty last week, a spokesperson for Ora TV told HuffPost on Monday.
According to the outlet, which produces “Larry King Now” and “PoliticKING,” the talk show icon had an appointment for an angioplasty ― a procedure that opens blocked blood vessels ― but checked into the hospital early on Thursday since he was experiencing severe chest pain.
“His doctor successfully performed the angioplasty and inserted stents to reopen the previous bypass from 1987,” the spokesperson said, referring to the quadruple bypass surgery King had after a heart attack 32 years ago. Contrary to several news reports, “his doctors say he did not have a heart attack and he did not go into cardiac arrest.”
The broadcaster is expected to make a full recovery and will be released from the hospital soon, the spokesperson added.
King candidly discussed his health in a 2004 appearance on NBC’s “Today” show, saying that his routines in 1987 had physical consequences.
King recalled that during the year of his near-death experience, he “was smoking three packs of Nat Sherman cigarettes a day, eating fried this-and-that, enjoying lamb chops with lots of fat because that always improves the taste, ordering banana cream or lemon meringue pie for dessert — and feeling absolutely fine.”
It wasn’t until he awoke one morning with persistent arm and stomach pain that he knew something was wrong. After discovering it was a heart attack, he kicked his smoking habit cold turkey.
In 2017, he revealed to People that he was diagnosed with stage 1 lung cancer, undergoing surgery before promptly returning to work.