Oct 15, 2008 11:38 am US/Central
Heart Trouble Keeps Cheney From Chicago Area Event
Cheney Cancels Appearance With Congressional Candidate Marty Ozinga
WASHINGTON (CBS) ―
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Vice President Dick Cheney in September.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Vice President Dick Cheney canceled a campaign appearance for a southwest suburban Congressional candidate Marty Ozinga Wednesday, after Cheney's doctor discovered heart troubles.
Cheney, 67, was scheduled to appear at an event for Ozinga in Homer Glen.
"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 Megan Mitchell, a spokeswoman for the vice president.
The vice president's office said that after experiencing the problem, Cheney saw the White House physician.
"Later this afternoon, the vice president will visit George Washington University Hospital for an outpatient procedure to restore his normal rhythm," Mitchell said.
In November 2007, doctors had to administer an electrical shock to Cheney's heart to restore it to a normal rhythm. That irregular heartbeat, like this one, was determined to be atrial fibrillation, an abnormal rhythm involving the upper chambers of the heart. At that time, White House doctors discovered the irregular heartbeat when they were treating him for a lingering cough from a cold.
Cheney has had four heart attacks, starting when he was 37 years old, and many related doctor and hospital visits over the years since. He has had quadruple bypass surgery and two artery-clearing angioplasties. In 2001, he had a special pacemaker implanted in his chest. The pacemaker's battery was replaced last year, and then the entire device was replaced.
In 2005, he had surgery to repair an arterial aneurysm on the back of each knee.
In his checkup in July, doctors said Cheney's heart was beating normally for a man of his age and health history.
Ozinga, who owns of the Ozinga Brothers concrete company, is running against Democratic State Senator Debbie Halvorson and Green Party candidate Jason Wallace, for the Congressional seat being vacated by retiring U.S. Rep. Jerry Weller (R-Ill.) The district includes most of Will County and all of LaSalle, Kankakee and Grundy counties, as well as parts of McLean, Bureau, Woodford and Livingston counties.
About 2.8 million Americans have atrial fibrillation, the most common type of irregular heartbeat, and cases are increasing as the population ages. The episodes are not life-threatening in and of themselves, and patients often aren't even aware when they happen. But if the irregular heartbeat continues, it can increase the risk of the formation of blood clots that can shoot to the brain and cause a stroke, which is life-threatening.
Though the heart sometimes gets back into rhythm on its own, the standard way to restore normal heartbeat is electric shock, a low-risk procedure. If that doesn't work, patients may need to take the blood thinner warfarin to reduce stroke risk.
The type of defibrillator Cheney has is used to prevent sudden death from a very different type of irregular heartbeat, the most serious kind that starts in the bottom of the heart.
The STNG Wire contributed to this report.
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