NEW YORK (WCBS 880 / AP)  -- UPDATE (1:40p) Aides say N.Y. Gov. Paterson has acute glaucoma; no long-term health effects expected

New York Governor David Paterson has checked himself into a hospital in Manhattan.

The governor's office confirms that Paterson experienced migraine-like symptoms and asked to be brought to the hospital this morning. 

This statement was just released from the Governor's office:
At approximately 11:30 a.m. Governor David A. Paterson was diagnosed with acute glaucoma in his left eye. The Governor is being attended by Dr. John Danias, an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at Mount Sinai Medical Center and an expert in glaucoma. The Governor is now undergoing an iridotomy, a routine, outpatient laser procedure to relieve pressure on that eye.

The operation will not have any long-term impact on the Governor’s overall health. The Governor will remain conscious throughout the procedure, but in an abundance of caution, the Senate Majority Leader and the Assembly Speaker were advised of this pursuant to standard protocol.

The governor's office released a statement saying, "Earlier this morning Governor Paterson experienced migraine like symptoms. He asked to be brought to The Mount Sinai Medical Center for an evaluation. He was evaluated and all preliminary tests were normal. He is now resting comfortably and will undergo further tests during the course of the day."

WABC-TV reported that Paterson arrived at Mount Sinai hospital at 3:30 am Tuesday.

Paterson's health has been a concern in recent years, with at least two hospitalizations.

In April 2006, when he was state Senate minority leader, Paterson was admitted to a hospital with chest pain and underwent a battery of tests, including a CT scan, cardiovascular stress test and echocardiogram. The tests came back normal and he was released after about 12 hours.

At the time, a Paterson spokesman said he had no history of heart trouble. A recreational basketball player who is legally blind, Paterson has run the New York City Marathon.

Last July, when he was lieutenant governor, Paterson fainted on an airplane on his way to Buffalo. He was briefly hospitalized and the following day had an angiogram at Mount Sinai, which was normal. Doctors said they found no evidence of heart disease.

Paterson, who resides in the governor's mansion several days a week with his wife, Michelle, also has homes in Harlem and the Albany suburb of Guilderland. His Harlem apartment is not far from Mount Sinai, on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

He was in the city to speak at commencement ceremonies at Columbia University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in history in 1977. He was to receive a medal of excellence. That appearance has been canceled and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo will speak in his place.

Under the state constitution, New York was left without a lieutenant governor when Paterson, a Democrat, succeeded Eliot Spitzer, who resigned in March amid a prostitution scandal.

Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, a Republican, is next in the line of succession and would be acting governor if Paterson were out of state or became incapacitated or died.

Voters won't pick a new lieutenant governor until the next gubernatorial election in 2010.

Today is the governor's 54th birthday.

This is a developing story. Stay with WCBS Newsradio 880 for the latest information.