Cheney checkup: 'Cardiac status remains stable'

Vice President Dick Cheney completed his annual physical exam today and it showed no cardiac irregularities, a spokeswoman said.

The 67-year-old vice president, who had four heart attacks before he took office in 2001, was treated last year for an irregular heartbeat.

Spokeswoman Megan Mitchell said he has not had any recurrence, and his "cardiac status remains stable."

He has had quadruple bypass surgery, two angioplasties -- procedures that clear the arteries -- and surgery on his leg to repair a sort of aneurysm.

The irregular heartbeat occurred in November. An electric jolt was used to restore it to its proper rhythm. Last summer he received a new defibrillator, with fresh batteries, to replace an earlier one implanted in his chest to regulate his heartbeat.

The exam was conducted at George Washington University Hospital, several blocks up Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House.

--James Gerstenzang

Photo: Lawrence Jackson/Associated Press

Comments

[Pam]

These implanted defibrillators are really miraculous. Their only drawback is when it is your time to die they have to be turned off or they will shock you over and over again causing a horrible painful death. If you are lucky enough to die in a hospital a nurse uses some kind of magnet to stop it from shocking you.

[tz_michigan]

Dick Cheney is the real bionic man. The medical care he gets is beyond belief. Other people with his history have long since gone to meet their makers. Is he lucky or just plain rich.