Attorney Dick DeGuerin says doctors at Conroe Regional Medical Center said the condition diagnosed Monday could be resolved through elective surgery, according to the Houston Chronicle newspaper.

DeGuerin says he worries the condition could worsen.

Initially, reports were that he was undergoing heart tests, after the 59-year-old accused owner of the Stanford Financial Group was hospitalised last week Thursday with a high pulse rate.

Stanford has been returned to an infirmary at a private jail in Conroe that houses federal detainees.

The illness caused Stanford to miss a court date in the trial that accuses him of orchestrating a US$7-billion fraud. He has denied the allegations.

Conroe is 40 miles (64 kilometres) north of Houston.

- AP