1:29pm Saturday 21st November 2009
Former Bolton Wanderers manager Sam Allardyce is set to undergo coronary surgery.
The current Blackburn Rovers' boss had complained of brief episodes of chest discomfort and investigations have revealed a narrowing to one branch of his coronary arteries, according to the club.
Allardyce will undergo an angioplasty next week which will see the insertion of a stent to correct the problem.
He will miss tomorrow's Bolton Wanderers game, as well as upcoming Rovers games against Fulham (away) and Stoke (home).
Ewood Park bosses say he is expected to be back in the dug-out for the Carling Cup quarter-final with Chelsea on Wednesday week.
Rovers chairman John Williams said: "Sam is very disappointed, particularly at missing the Bolton fixture, but his well being is of prime consideration. We all appreciate that Premier League football is a stressful business and prevention is always better than cure."
In Allardyce's absence, assistant manager Neil McDonald will take charge of first team affairs.
According to the British Heart Foundation, a coronary angioplasty is a technique for treating coronary heart disease and angina.
Typically, a catheter – a fine, flexible, hollow tube – with a small inflatable balloon at its tip will be passed into an artery in either the groin or arm.
The operator then uses X-ray screening to direct the catheter into a coronary artery until its tip reaches a narrow or blocked section.
The balloon will then be gently inflated so that it squashes the fatty tissue in the narrowed artery, allowing the blood to flow more easily.
The catheter contains a stent - a small tube of stainless steel mesh. As the balloon is inflated, the stent expands so that it holds open the narrowed blood vessel. The balloon is let down and removed, leaving the stent in place.
Most people can go home the same day or the next day.
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