Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni arrives for a news conference after Anis Amri, the Tunisian suspect in a truck attack at a Christmas market in Berlin, was shot and killed in a suburb of Milan, at the Chigi Place in Rome, Italy, December 23, 2016. REUTERS/Remo Casilli

ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni is making an excellent recovery after undergoing a heart procedure and is expected to be released from hospital by the end of the week, doctors said on Thursday.

The 62-year-old Gentiloni, who took office last month, had an emergency angioplasty, which widens a narrow or obstructed artery or vein, to unblock a blood vessel of the heart, late on Tuesday.

Blood and heart tests showed Gentiloni was progressing extremely well, “and so he is expected to be discharged by the end of the week,” a medical bulletin issued by Rome’s Gemelli hospital said.