First Lady Melania Trump Hospitalized Due To Kidney Condition
WASHINGTON (CBSNewYork/AP) - First lady Melania Trump has been hospitalized after undergoing a procedure to treat a kidney condition, the White House said Monday.
"This morning, first lady Melania Trump underwent an embolization procedure to treat a benign kidney condition. The procedure was successful and there were no complications," the White House said in a statement. "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."
An embolization is a procedure to cut off the blood supply to a tumor or abnormal growth. The White House did not disclose the reason for it but said it was "benign."
"Technically, [an embolization is] not surgery, but it is a procedure where a catheter is threaded through a blood vessel and then something is injected or inserted to block off that blood vessel," said CBS2's Dr. Max Gomez. "There are not many kidney conditions where an embolization is used. Mrs. Trump could've had a blood vessel malformation in her kidney that may've started bleeding. Or there is a rare benign tumor that tumor that can grow on the kidney called an angiomyolipoma. Again, that is benign, but it can press on kidney structures and cause problems that way."
Embolization is "minimally invasive, and patients usually recover fairly quickly," Gomez explained.
President Donald Trump visited his wife at Walter Reed Medical Center just outside Washington later Monday.
"Successful procedure, she is in good spirits. Thank you to all of the well wishers!" Trump Tweeted.
Her spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, said the procedure on the 48-year-old first lady was successful and there were no complications.
The White House did not offer any additional details on Mrs. Trump's condition.
Last week, the first lady rolled out her "Be Best" campaign at a ceremony at the White House. She was last seen in public on Wednesday at a White House event where she joined the president to honor military mothers and spouses for Mother's Day.
Mrs. Trump, who has been gradually raising her profile as first lady, recently hosted her first state dinner and launched a public awareness campaign to help children.
The first lady lived full time in New York during the administration's opening months so the couple's son, Barron, now 12, would not have to change schools midyear. She and Barron moved into the White House last June and since then the first lady has been raising her public profile.
Mrs. Trump joined her husband last month to host the prime minister of Japan for a two-day summit at the Trumps' Florida estate, and the Trumps hosted the president of France at the White House on a three-day state visit, including a lavish state dinner. Mrs. Trump also represented the administration at the April funeral of former first lady Barbara Bush.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)