NICOSIA, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus's President Nicos Anastasiades will undergo heart surgery in a New York specialized center on December 4, the government spokesman said on Tuesday.
Anastasiades, aged 68, was found earlier this month to be suffering from a mitral valve problem and would need surgery.
The government spokesman said in a written statement Anastasiades will fly to the United States on Saturday, November 29, for the operation.
"The President's departure to a medical center abroad was deemed necessary because of the center's specialization in such surgical procedures," the spokesman's statement said.
It added that the president is expected to return to Cyprus before the Christmas holidays.
Anastasiades had said earlier this month that due to several official engagements in December, including an official visit to Israel on December 2, and a European Council meeting in mid-December he would put off his surgery until after the Christmas and New Year's holidays.
It was also thought that he would have his operation in Cyprus.
It was not immediately clear why the surgery has been brought forward.
Anastasiades had no known health problems up to now, but he cancelled his participation in an EU summit meeting late in October after suffering a nosebleed in Brussels which his doctors said was caused by high blood pressure.
He was diagnosed with a mitral valve problem during a routine medical examination on November 12.
The mitral valve controls the forward flow of blood between the left atrium and the left ventricle.
The spokesman said the president will undergo "a corrective mitral valve operation," thus clarifying he will nor receive a valve replacement.
Medical sources said that depending on the scope of the operation it could be performed through several small cuts, thus avoiding open heart surgery, and would require hospitalization for three to five days.
