The pacemaker in Vice President Dick Cheney’s chest has not been needed to correct any irregular heartbeat since it was implanted in June, doctors found during a checkup Friday.
The vice president, who has a 30-year history of heart trouble, went straight from his two-hour physical at George Washington University Medical Center to a day of work at the White House.
“The vice president was told by his doctor that all the news was very good. In particular, the doctor noted that the vice president’s ICD neither detected nor treated any arrhythmia,” said Cheney adviser Mary Matalin.
ICD stands for implantable cardioverter defibrillator, the technical name for the device. If Cheney’s heart had slipped into an abnormal rhythm, the ICD would have jolted it back into a proper beat. Cheney, 61, plans to go next month to Britain and the Middle East on an 11-nation tour.
