Emperor Akihito to have heart surgery

TOKYO, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Japan's Emperor Akihito will undergo heart bypass surgery after tests showed the narrowing of an artery providing blood to his heart, officials said Sunday.

The emperor left the University of Tokyo Hospital Sunday after undergoing an angiogram Saturday to determine his cardiac function, the Kyodo News Agency reported. His surgery will be performed at the hospital next Saturday.

Akihito, 78, had the angiogram after he reported symptoms of a change in blood flow during exercise. The angiogram revealed the artery leading to the emperor's heart had narrowed compared to a similar test last February, the agency said.

Doctors had been monitoring his heart since the tests last year.

Akihito, who has been on the throne since 1989, underwent surgery in 2003 to treat prostate cancer and was hospitalized with bronchial pneumonia in November.