( CNN ) -- Arizona surgeons repaired a hole in rocker Bret Michaels ' heart Monday , a hospital spokeswoman said . The hole , medically known as a patent foramen ovale , was discovered last April while Michaels was being treated for a brain hemorrhage at St. Joseph 's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix . `` Without treatment for the PFO , Michaels could be at risk for developing blood clots and additional stroke , '' hospital spokeswoman Carmelle Malkovich said . Michaels , 47 , delayed the surgery until this month to allow him to complete a concert tour and appear on the season finale of the reality show `` Celebrity Apprentice , '' which he won last summer . `` Doctors will insert a catheter into a vein in the groin and guide wires and a PFO closure device into the heart with imaging assistance to close the PFO , '' said a hospital statement issued prior to the surgery . `` The device will remain in Michaels ' heart permanently to stop abnormal blood flow between the two chambers of the heart . '' The hole is believed to have caused a `` warning stroke '' Michaels suffered in May during his brain treatment . The singer felt the left side of his body growing numb , prompting him to return to the hospital that treated him for a massive brain hemorrhage in April , his publicist said at the time . His doctors concluded that Michaels had suffered a transient ischemic attack , or warning stroke , that was prompted by a hole in his heart , Malkovich said . The heart problem was probably not related to Michaels ' brain hemorrhage , said Dr. Joseph Zabramski , the neurosurgeon who treated his brain hemorrhage . Michaels was the lead singer for the '80s glam-metal `` hair band '' Poison . He became a reality TV star by headlining the VH1 show `` Rock of Love With Bret Michaels '' as well as appearing on `` Celebrity Apprentice . '' His `` Roses & Thorns '' tour with the Bret Michaels Band was interrupted when the singer was stricken by an excruciating headache on April 22 . Doctors at the Barrow Neurological Institute , a part of St. Joseph 's Hospital , diagnosed him with a rupture in his brain , but they never pinpointed the cause . Michaels was released from the hospital 12 days later .
The hole in Michaels ' heart was found last May . Surgery was delayed while Michaels toured . Michaels was treated for a brain hemorrhage last April .