John Kerry's wife improving at Boston hospital

BOSTON – Doctors treating Teresa Heinz Kerry, the wife of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, say they have ruled out several serious conditions such as a brain tumor, stroke or heart attack as possible causes of her seizure-like symptoms.

State Department spokesman Glen Johnson said in a statement Tuesday that Heinz Kerry continues to improve and remains in fair condition at Massachusetts General Hospital. She was brought there Sunday after becoming ill on the Massachusetts island of Nantucket.

Johnson says Kerry plans to return briefly to Washington on Tuesday to open scheduled meetings between the U.S. and China on strategic and economic issues. He will then return to the Boston hospital.

Johnson says the family is grateful for an outpouring of well-wishes, including phone calls and messages from foreign leaders.