Helms stable after heart surgery

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Jesse Helms of North Carolina was in stable condition Thursday after surgery to replace a faulty heart valve installed a decade ago, his chief of staff said.

"He did very well and is stable in the post-operative cardiac ICU [intensive care unit]. All vital signs are stable," Jimmy Broughton said in a statement. "The surgical team led by Dr. Allan Speir is very satisfied with the surgical outcome thus far."

The 80-year-old Helms, a Republican icon of the conservative right, was admitted Monday to Bethesda Naval Medical Center in Maryland for evaluation after complaining of fatigue. Tests confirmed that the prosthetic mitral valve installed in 1992 during quadruple-bypass surgery had failed, Broughton said.

Thursday's surgery was performed at Inova Fairfax Hospital, located in the Washington suburbs of northern Virginia.

Broughton described the surgical procedures as "redo mitral valve replacement and tricuspid annuloplasty." The tricuspid is the valve controlling blood flow from the right atrium of the heart to the right ventricle.

Helms is serving his fifth term in the U.S. Senate, where he is the ranking Republican on the Committee on Foreign Relations. He had already announced he would not seek re-election this year.