Heart surgery

Arnold Schwarzenegger 'stable' after heart surgery

The Austrian-American film star and former California governor, 70, had a scheduled procedure to replace a valve at Cedars-Sinai hospital on Thursday.

The device was installed to repair a defective aortic valve in 1997. Thursday's operation lasted several hours, TMZ website reports.

Schwarzenegger is said to be recovering well and reportedly commented after waking from surgery: "I'm back."

His spokesman, Daniel Ketchell, said that Schwarzenegger was "in good spirits".