Former President Carter out of surgery; no complications

ATLANTA — Former President Jimmy Carter, 95, was recovering Tuesday following surgery to relieve pressure on his brain from bleeding linked to recent falls.

A statement from his spokeswoman said there were no complications from the procedure performed at Emory University Hospital for a subdural hematoma — blood trapped on the brain’s surface.

Carter will remain in the hospital for observation, said Deanna Congileo, his spokeswoman at the Carter Center.

Carter’s wife of 73 years, Rosalynn Carter, is with him at the hospital, said Carter’s pastor, the Rev. Tony Lowden. “She won’t leave his side,” he said.

Large bleeds, usually after major trauma, can be life-threatening. But often, especially in elderly patients, the injury is a slow leak that takes a while to build up until initial symptoms such as headaches and confusion appear, said Dr. Lola Chambless, associate professor of neurological surgery at Vanderbilt University.

To relieve pressure, surgeons most commonly drill one or two small holes through the skull to drain the leakage site.

Despite his increasingly frail health, the nation’s oldest-ever ex-president still teaches Sunday school about twice monthly at Maranatha Baptist Church in his hometown of Plains in southwest Georgia.

Carter candidly discussed his own mortality on Nov. 3, during his latest appearance at his church.

Since then, Carter said he’s been “absolutely confident” in the Christian idea of life after death and hasn’t worried about his own death.