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As he left NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia hospital on a cold and bright day, Mr. Koch, 88, said he was feeling much better and planned to be back in his law office on Monday, according to the spokesman, Fred Winters.

It was the third time that the former mayor had been hospitalized in recent months.

Mr. Koch, who led New York for 12 years beginning in 1978 after serving in Congress and the City Council, was told to limit the amount of salt in his diet, something of a challenge for a man who said that the two staples of his diet were garlic and salt.

Nevertheless, he seemed in good spirits.

At a lunch with former aides on Jan. 19, Mr. Koch complained of swollen ankles and breathing problems. That night, a physician friend told the former mayor that he should get medical attention, and Mr. Koch headed uptown to the hospital. Tests showed he had fluid on the lungs.

Mr. Koch was last hospitalized in December, when he was treated for a lung infection. In September, he was admitted for treatment of anemia.