Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist underwent back surgery Wednesday.

The court's public information office released a statement reporting that Rehnquist, who will be 71 Sunday, underwent a "laminectomy for spinal stenosis" at Washington Hospital Center and was "resting comfortably."A medical dictionary defines laminectomy as a surgical chipping away of the bony arches of one or more vertebrae, performed to relieve compression of the spinal cord.

Such compression often is caused by a degenerative or displaced disc.

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Spinal stenosis is defined as an abnormal condition characterized by narrowing of the spinal column.

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