Broyles Hospitalized With Irregular Heartbeat

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles checked into Washington Regional Medical Center on Tuesday with an irregular heartbeat and remained hospitalized Thursday night.

Arkansas sports information director Kevin Trainor said the 79-year-old is resting comfortably under the supervision of doctors and could be released as early as today. The complication, known as arrhythmia, isn't an unusual problem for Broyles, who has been on medication to help regulate his heartbeat the past 10 years.

"It's not uncharted territory for him," Trainor said. "It occasionally goes out of rhythm. He's fine. I talked to him not too long ago (Thursday)."

The condition is likely linked to the amount of stress Broyles has been under the past month while his wife, Barbara, fought through the final stages of a lengthy battle with Alzheimer's disease. Trainor said Broyles was at his wife's bedside for nearly a month before she passed away last Wednesday.

Doctors are familiar with treating Broyles because he has been hospitalized twice in the past 13 months with the same symptoms. Broyles also checked into the hospital last January and in Sept. 2003 with an irregular heartbeat.