King Juan Carlos of Spain is undergoing surgery to remove a growth from a lung, the Royal Palace said Saturday. The palace said the 72-year-old monarch was being operated on in a hospital in the northeastern city of Barcelona. A statement issued by Avelino Barros Caballero, head of the palace's medical team, said doctors carrying out a routine checkup on April 26 and 27 found what was described as «calcification» at the top of the king's right lung. The growth was also described as a «nodule measuring 19 x 12 millimeters (0.75 x 0.47 inches)» that «does not infiltrate into the pleura.» After further tests they decided to operate on Saturday to remove the nodule. Surgery was being directed by doctor Laureano Molins Lopez-Rodo, the statement was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. Doctors will be carrying out tests on the growth after they have removed it.
