A week after suffering a heart attack, State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo, D-Phila, was released from a Hahnemann University Hospital yesterday, local media sources reported.

“They tell me I have minimal damage,” Fumo, 64, said during a news conference in a lobby of the hospital, surrounded by his children Allison and Vincent and two of his doctors, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

On March 2, an ambulance rushed Fumo from his Spring Garden home to the hospital after he accused chest pain. His doctors said his right artery was 100 percent blocked. They performed a coronary angioplasty to remove the blockage and inserted a metal stent to restore normal blood flow.

The senator thanked his doctors for the great treatment he had received while in hospital and the Fire Department rescuers, who responded to his home, although he admitted he had been reluctant to seek help.

Doctors urged Fumo to make some lifestyle changes after this coronary episode, including few weeks of convalescing. "We cut a deal for two weeks, and we are going to try to honor that," Fumo said.

Fumo has had two back operations within the last four months, the most recent being on February, when he underwent lumbar fusion surgery to correct a misalignment of vertebrae. He has also been hospitalized for angina, chest pain caused by a lack of blood and oxygen to the heart.

In September, Fumo faces a federal trial on 139 corruption charges. The charges range from fraud to obstruction of justice, for allegedly misusing funds from a charity to support a posh lifestyle.

Fumo also faces three opponents in the Democrat primary: union leader John J. Dougherty, community activist Anne Dicker and lawyer Lawrence M. Farnese Jr. If he wins, he will still have to beat a Republican in November.