President Donald Trump said he had an MRI scan during a recent visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
“I did. I got an MRI. It was perfect,” the president told reporters on board Air Force One on Monday on his way to a week-long trip in Asia.
Trump, who at age 79 is one of the oldest presidents in US history, did not say why he got the scan, which can be used to check for a wide range of issues.
The scan took place during Trump’s visit to Walter Reed earlier this month, when his physician said he was in “exceptional health”.
“The doctor said [it] was some of the best reports, for the age, they’ve ever seen,” Trump said Monday.
Asked why he received the MRI, which stands for magnetic resonance imaging, Trump told reporters to “ask the doctors”.
Presidential physician Dr Sean Barbabella said in a statement at the time that Trump’s appointment was a “scheduled follow-up evaluation” “as part of his ongoing health maintenance plan and included advanced imaging, laboratory testing, and preventative health assessments”.
The president “continues to demonstrate excellent overall health”, Dr Barbabella said.
MRI scans use strong magnetic fields to create an image of the inside of a patient’s body, and is especially useful for looking at soft tissues, according to the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Earlier this year, the White House announced that Trump had been diagnosed with a medical condition in his veins called chronic venous insufficiency.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had noticed swelling in his legs, prompting a check-up with his doctor who diagnosed him with the condition.
Chronic venous insufficiency occurs when leg veins don’t allow blood to flow back up to the heart, causing it to pool in the lower limbs. It is a “benign and common”, in older individuals, according to a note from Barbabella.
Trump had also been recently photographed with patches of makeup on the back of his hand. The White House has said it is unrelated to the vein condition but is instead bruising as a result of frequent handshaking.