– The king will then remain in hospital for a few days, the royal house writes in a press release. A week ago it became clear that King Harald needs a permanent pacemaker. The reason is that he has too low a heart rate, the royal house stated in a press release at the time. However, the king could not have the pacemaker inserted until he was completely free of the infection he has been struggling with recently. Therefore, the operation has been delayed. Got a temporary pacemaker before the return journey King Harald has been admitted to the Rikshospitalet in Oslo since he returned home from Malaysia. The king’s physician Bjørn Bendz has followed King Harald closely in recent years. Photo: Geir Olsen / NTB The plane that transported the king back to Norway landed on Norwegian soil late in the evening on Sunday 3 March, after a flight that lasted a total of 17 hours. By then, the king had already had a temporary pacemaker inserted at the Sultanah Maliha hospital in Langkawi. The decision was made the day before the long flight and was supposed to make the journey home safer, explained the king’s physician Bjørn Bendz. These were the dramatic days when the king fell ill in Malaysia: – Not a major operation When the temporary pacemaker is replaced by a permanent one, it means that the pacemaker is operated on and remains in place to control the heart’s rhythm. This was explained by Lars Aaberge, head of the cardiology department at Oslo University Hospital, to news last week. He spoke on a general basis. Senior doctor at Oslo University Hospital explains what a permanent pacemaker is. Pacemaker is a system that can stimulate the heart muscle electrically so that a heartbeat can be started. Properly adapted, it completely or partially replaces the heart’s conduction system. According to Aaberge, inserting a permanent pacemaker is not a complicated operation. – No, it is not a major intervention. It is usually done with local anaesthetic. The pacemaker is then placed as a matchbox-sized battery under the skin, preferably in the left shoulder region. Then the wires go from there and down to the heart, he said. Previous heart surgery The king has also previously undergone interventions related to the heart. In 2020, King Harald replaced a heart valve at Rikshospitalet, after struggling with heavy breathing. King Harald has visited the vast majority of Norway’s municipalities. Here he is in Flå last October. Photo: Vilde Helljesen / news Also in 2005, he underwent an operation on the heart valve between the heart and the main artery. At that time, the aortic valve was replaced with an artificial heart valve. Last year, King Harald had 431 work assignments – this is how his working day looks like:
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The king gets a pacemaker today – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
