SACRAMENTO, CALIF. ? Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger spent a few hours in a Sacramento, Calif., hospital Tuesday night after complaining of a rapid heartbeat, his office said Wednesday.

Spokeswoman Margita Thompson said Schwarzenegger, 58, had the stomach flu Tuesday and “consequently he experienced a rapid heartbeat. His personal doctor recommended he have it checked.”

Thompson said the governor went to the University of California, Davis, Medical Center in Sacramento about midnight, where physicians said his heart rate was normal. She said he was observed for a few hours and released. He was working in his office Wednesday.

An occasional episode of rapid heartbeat is common in patients who have undergone certain types of heart surgery, said Dr. P.K. Shah of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Schwarzenegger had open-heart surgery in 1997 to repair a congenital defect known as bicuspid aortic valve.