May 21--ALBANY -- Gov. David A. Paterson was discharged Tuesday from a Manhattan hospital after undergoing an outpatient procedure for acute glaucoma.
Doctors said the five-minute operation, which used a laser treatment to ease pressure in Paterson's left eye, was a success, adding that the governor could return to work today.
The governor was never unconscious, so the procedure did not require a temporary handoff to Sate Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, RBrunswick, to serve as acting governor.
Aides said Paterson developed a severe headache at his home in Harlem and went to Mount Sinai Medical Center at about 5 a. m.
Several hours later, doctors confirmed an acute case of glaucoma in his left eye. Paterson, who is legally blind, cannot see out of his left eye but can see objects and shapes with his right eye.
"This is a condition that occurs suddenly," said Dr. John Danias, an ophthalmologist at Mount Sinai.
In what the administration called "an abundance of caution," officials notified both Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, before the surgical procedure.
"The smart thing to do if something that isn't normal is going on is to have it checked out. So, he was smart just to have it checked out, and I am sure he is perfectly fine," Bruno said Tuesday morning before the diagnosis was announced.
It was not Paterson's first visit to a hospital in recent years.
Last July, he fainted on an early morning flight from New York City to Buffalo. Paramedics who met the plane administered oxygen before an ambulance transported him to Erie County Medical Center. Later tests conducted on his heart in Mount Sinai came back normal.
A year earlier, he was admitted to a hospital after complaining of chest pains. Tests during that visit also came back normal.
Doctors plan another procedure on the governor's right eye as a precaution.
Danias said a patient with acute glaucoma normally feels intense pain or headaches. He said the governor's level of vision will not be affected by the procedure.
"He should be capable of resuming his normal activities right away," he said in a briefing at the hospital.
Paterson canceled his afternoon commencement address at Columbia University, his al-ma mater.
The governor came into office under intense circumstances with the resignation of Eliot L. Spitzer and had to deal immediately with reaching agreement on a state budget in the face of a worsening economy.
Still, Bruno said, he has not seen any strain on the governor. "He's in great physical condition. He's great emotionally. He's great mentally, and he demonstrates that every day," Bruno said.
tprecious@buffnews.com
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