The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mrs. Trump has kidney procedure
No complications, staff says; she’ll stay in hospital for week.
WASHINGTON — Melania Trump underwent a medical procedure Monday morning to treat what the White House called a “benign kidney condition” and was reported to be recovering without trouble at a military hospital outside the capital.
“The procedure was successful and there were no complications,” a White House statement read. “Mrs. Trump is at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and will likely remain there for the duration of the week. The first lady looks forward to a full recovery so she can continue her work on behalf of children everywhere.”
President Donald Trump spoke with Melania Trump on Monday morning before the procedure and later spoke with the doctor after it was over, according to a White House official who asked not to be identified describing the private communications. The president left the White House by helicopter Monday afternoon to fly to Walter Reed to be with the first lady.
“Heading over to Walter Reed Medical Center to see our great First Lady, Melania,” Trump said on Twitter. “Successful procedure, she is in good spirits. Thank you to all of the well-wishers!”
The White House said Melania Trump, 48, underwent an embolization procedure. The Johns Hopkins Patients’ Guide to Kidney Cancer describes an arterial
embolization as a procedure in which a special spongelike material is placed into an artery that supplies blood to the kidney. A thin tube catheter is inserted into a vessel in the leg and into the main vessel feeding the kidney.
Such a procedure would block the blood supply that feeds the kidney and might be used to stop bleeding from a benign tumor or a small aneurysm, according to specialists. The Johns Hopkins guide said it can also be used to make it easier for a surgeon to remove the kidney but is more frequently used to control symptoms
for someone who cannot undergo surgery.
The fact that Trump will remain in the hospital for the rest of the week was unusual in the most typical cases, according to a leading medical expert.
“It’s like literally an outpatient procedure,” said Eleanor D. Lederer, a professor at the University of Louisville School of Medicine and past president of the American Society of Nephrology. “You go in, you have it done, you lie in bed for a while to keep the blood vessel from bleeding, and then you go home.”