Cheney heart troubles resurface
Wed Oct 15, 2008 11:24am EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, who has a history of heart trouble, was experiencing an recurrence of an abnormal heartbeat and will undergo a hospital procedure on Wednesday afternoon to address it, his spokeswoman said.
"During a visit with his doctors this morning, it was discovered that the vice president is experiencing a recurrence of atrial fibrillation, an abnormal rhythm involving the upper chambers of the heart," said his spokeswoman Megan Mitchell.
He will have an outpatient procedure at George Washington University Hospital on Wednesday afternoon to restore a normal heartbeat, she said in a statement. Cheney canceled a planned campaign event in Illinois because of the heart problem.
Cheney, 67, has had four heart attacks, quadruple bypass surgery, two artery-clearing angioplasties and a procedure to implant a defibrillator. During his yearly routine physical examination in July, doctors gave him the all-clear.
Cheney had his most recent heart attack shortly after the November 2000 election, although it was considered mild. He had the defibrillator implanted in his chest in 2001 to help regulate his heartbeat.
Atrial fibrillation is an abnormal heart rhythm in the upper chambers of the heart. With atrial fibrillation, the two upper chambers of the heart beat quickly and irregularly.
Because blood is not pumped completely out the heart's upper chambers, it can pool and clot, raising the risk for a stroke. About 15 percent of strokes occur in people with atrial fibrillation, according to the American Heart Association.
About 2.2 million Americans have this type of abnormal heart rhythm.
(Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky and Julie Steenhuysen, editing by Chris Wilson)
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