Tony Blair's heart treatment more serious than reported

The treatment British Prime Minister Tony Blair received for a heart condition last year was more serious than aides acknowledged.

Blair, 50, was admitted to hospital in October suffering from a rapid, irregular heartbeat. He received electric-shock treatment.

His office said it was a relatively common condition and easily treated. Former Armed Forces Minister Lewis Moonie, a medical doctor, said that the treatment was more serious than Blair's office let on. "Anaesthetising somebody and giving their heart electric shocks is not something you just do in the routine run of medical practice."