Washington Wizards center Etan Thomas's defective aortic valve was replaced during open-heart surgery on Thursday morning, and he could be released from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., by the middle of next week.

According to Hartzell Schaff, the cardiovascular surgeon who performed the four-hour operation, Thomas should regain full cardiac health and be able to continue his basketball career following a rehabilitation period.

"For most patients, recovery from heart surgery takes approximately four to six weeks, but for someone who has lots of physical activity in their life and especially for someone like Etan, it's certainly going to take at least two months to recover fully as regards to the healing of the sternum where the incision was made," Schaff said. "We think that the function of his heart and lungs should return to normal and it's possible that he can get back to playing professional-level basketball."

Though league sources have indicated that the Wizards expect Thomas to miss the entire season, neither Schaff nor Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld would rule out Thomas returning before the end of the season.