Former president Bill Clinton had two stents placed in a clogged heart artery Thursday after he complained of chest pains, according to a spokesman.

The 63-year-old Clinton "is in good spirits, and will continue to focus on the work of his foundation and Haiti's relief and long-term recovery efforts," said Douglas Band, counselor to the former president.

The nation's 42nd president underwent a quadruple heart bypass operation in 2004.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is traveling to New York to be with her husband, who is at the Columbia Campus of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, aides told the Associated Press.

They did not know whether the ex-president's illness would delay Hillary Clinton's scheduled trip this weekend to Qatar and Saudi Arabia; she left for New York shortly after a White House meeting with President Obama.

Former president George W. Bush, who is working with his predecessor on a Haiti relief fundraising drive, spoke with Chelsea Clinton today "and was glad to hear that her father is doing well and that his spirits are high, Bush spokesman David Sherzer said. "President Bush looks forward to continuing to work with his friend on Haiti relief and rebuilding."

Cardiologists say that Clinton's latest brush with chest pain should come as no surprise, especially because at least one of the blood vessels used in the former president's 2004 bypass operation must have been a leg vein.

"It's very common five to seven years after bypass surgery for a vein graft to (clog)," just as native arteries do, says Steven Nissen, chief of cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic.

That's because coronary artery disease is progressive and likely to recur under the best conditions. Also, the leg veins commonly used in bypass surgery are structurally different than arteries, so they tend to fail more quickly, Nissen says.

Doctors often fix the problem by inserting stents, spring-like devices that prop the artery open. Once a stent is put in place, the chest pain goes away. Typically, patients are released from the hospital within 24 to 48 hours and are able to resume their normal activities within a few days.

Fortunately, Nissen says, Clinton appears to have visited the hospital in time to avert a heart attack, "which means there probably isn't any heart damage."

But the fix, Nissen says, is likely to be temporary.

"Once you have coronary artery disease, it tends to recur," he says.

Clinton -- once renowned for his consumption of junk food -- first underwent quadruple bypass surgery in September of 2004. Six months later, he developed complications that required a second surgery. He did not suffer a heart attack during either of those episodes.

Former Clinton press secretary Dee Dee Myers joked that it was nice of Clinton to "inject a change of topic" into the news after all the coverage of the East Coast snowstorms.

"No one I've talked to around him is very alarmed," Myers said.

Myers added, "The guy works so hard, and a lot of people around him and Hillary are going to have to look at his schedule and dial it back around the edges."

Lanny Davis, a White House lawyer during the Clinton years, predicted his resilient ex-boss would recover soon.

"He's going to bounce back pretty quickly because he's Bill Clinton," Davis said.

Former president George H.W. Bush, who worked with his successor on relief efforts after the 2004 Asian tsunami, said in a statement he has been in touch with Clinton's office. "Of course, Barbara and I wish him a speedy and full recovery," Bush said.

Here is the full statement from Douglas Band, counselor to former president Bill Clinton:

Today President Bill Clinton was admitted to the Columbia Campus of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital after feeling discomfort in his chest. Following a visit to his cardiologist, he underwent a procedure to place two stents in one of his coronary arteries. President Clinton is in good spirits, and will continue to focus on the work of his Foundation and Haiti's relief and long-term recovery efforts. In 2004, President Clinton underwent a successful quadruple bypass operation to free four blocked arteries.

(Posted by David Jackson and Steve Sternberg)