US Vice president Hospitalized After Experiencing Chest Pains

WASHINGTON DC: Former vice president Dick Cheney was hospitalized after experiencing chest pains on Monday, an aide said.

Cheney’s assistant Peter Long issued a statement that the 69-year-old was resting comfortably and his doctors were evaluating the situation.

The former vice president has a history of heart problems and has a pacemaker.

In 2008, doctors restored a normal rhythm to his heart with an electric shock.

It was the second time in less than a year that Cheney had experienced and been treated for an atrial fibrillation, an abnormal rhythm involving the upper chambers of the heart.

Cheney has had four heart attacks, the first when he was 37.

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.

The former vice president has kept a high profile since leaving the White House.

He has sparred with the Obama administration over plans to close the US detention facility for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and hold the trials of several high-profile detainees in civilian courts rather than military tribunals.

Among his extensive government service, Cheney served as defence secretary under President George H W Bush.

NBC reported that two doctors at George Washington University Hospital said Cheney was stable but may have additional treatment on Tuesday.

The former vice president apparently had an angiogram so doctors could look at his coronary arteries and direct a course of treatment. AGENCIES

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US Vice president Hospitalized After Experiencing Chest Pains was first posted on February 23, 2010 at 11:46 am.