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Tuesday May 26, 2009

Sultan Sharafuddin returns home to a warm reception


SEPANG: Selangor’s Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah returned home yesterday to a warm welcome from a successful open heart operation in San Francisco.

He walked out with minimal help to greet family members after his private jet touched down at 3.40pm.

Present at KLIA’s Bunga Raya VIP complex to welcome the Sultan were the Raja Muda of Perak Raja Dr Nazrin Shah and Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim.

Back home: Sultan Sharafuddin chatting with Raja Dr Nazrin Shah upon his arrival at the KLIA yesterday as Khalid (left), Selangor State Assembly Speaker Teng Chang Khim (second from left) and others look on.

Accompanying the Sultan were his younger brother Tengku Indera Setia Selangor Tengku Ahmad Shah, his personal physician Datuk Dr Anuar Masduki, Datuk Pengelola Bijaya di-Raja Selangor Datuk Zakaria Abd Rahman, Selangor Royal Assembly Council member Tan Sri Syed Mohd Yusof Tun Syed Nasir and private aide Kelvin Ong.

The Sultan thanked well-wishers for their “get-well-soon” messages and had tea before leaving for the palace.

Dr Anuar, who is also consultant cardiologist at Sime Darby Medical Centre in Subang Jaya, told reporters that the nine-hour surgery on May 2 went off smoothly, and the Sultan made a satisfactory recovery.

The surgery involved three procedures – mitral valve repair, maze procedure to normalise heart rhythm and removal of the left atrial appendage to prevent clots in the heart.

The Sultan elected to be treated at Stanford University Medical Centre in Palo Alto because it promised the best long-term results as the physician involved specialised in mitral valve repair.

Dr Anuar said that the procedure was relatively straight forward.

“It’s not that we do not have the expertise here, but we looked for the best and for people used to doing these procedures.

“There’s no need for Tuanku to go back to the United States, but it’s up to where Tuanku wants to be treated. It would most probably be at Sime Darby Medical Centre because we have been looking after Tuanku all these years,” said Dr Anuar.

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