Franklin Graham undergoes heart surgery at Mayo Clinic

BOONE, N.C. (AP) — A spokesman for Franklin Graham says the evangelist underwent a specialized heart surgery to treat a condition which had developed in recent months.

Mark Barber, a spokesman for North Carolina-based Samaritan’s Purse, said in a news release that Graham successfully underwent the procedure Monday at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

The news release said that in recent months, the son of the late evangelist Billy Graham had developed constrictive pericarditis, inflammation, and hardening of the sac around the heart that compresses the heart and prevents it from working properly.

The surgery involved removing the pericardium, and Graham’s doctors expect a full recovery.