KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 22 — Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been admitted to the cardiac care unit at the National Heart Institute (IJN), according to his office.

Earlier this month, the ex-PM had been admitted to the same hospital for an elective surgery and was released with a clean bill of health.

However, his office confirmed earlier today that the ex-PM was back at IJN.

"Yes, he is in CCU,” the spokesman said.

Details on Dr Mahathir’s admission to the CCU were not disclosed to the media.

On January 9, IJN said that Dr Mahathir, who was admitted at the centre for an unspecified medical procedure the week prior, has been given a clean bill of health and expected to be discharged in a few more days.

In a brief statement, IJN said the procedure was performed on January 8 by a team of its doctors together with those from Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) with success.

The 96-year-old Dr Mahathir has a history of illnesses relating to his heart. He had his first heart attack in 1989, when he was 64 years old.

Then, in 2006, he had two more heart attacks, and underwent a quadruple bypass surgery a year later.

Dr Mahathir was hospitalised at IJN just last month for an unspecified ailment.

He underwent a full medical check-up and was similarly given a clean bill of health and discharged before Christmas.

The last time he was admitted to IJN prior to 2021 was on February 10, 2018, for a chest infection.