heartbeat had become more consistent and that a fever — which along with the pneumonia in his lungs triggered the heart incident — was receding. Kotík added that an x-ray showed that the area in Havel‘s lungs affected by the pneumonia was decreasing. A former chain smoker, Havel has suffered several bouts of ill health since lung cancer surgery in late 1996. He entered hospital 11 days ago to have a colostomy bag removed. On Monday night, Havel‘s heartbeat surged to 200 beats a minute, causing his blood pressure to fall. Electric shocks were required to restore the heartbeat to a safer pace. Austrian physician Ernst Bodner told Czech Television on Tuesday the president‘s life was in danger for an hour during the heart incident. Prague Castle said on Thursday that Bodner would return home to Innsbruck on Friday after consulting with the president‘s medical team and Havel‘s wife Dagmar.