Dick Cheney’s chest pain was fifth heart attack
Former Vice President Dick Cheney, who was admitted to a Washington hospital overnight with chest pain, experienced a mild heart attack, a spokesman said Tuesday.
Cheney was resting comfortably, aide Peter Long said, and was expected to be released from George Washington University Hospital by the end of the week.
This is Cheney’s fifth heart attack. The 69-year-old has had quadruple-bypass surgery and two artery-clearing angioplasties.
Five heart attacks may seem like a lot, but experts say that’s not necessarily the case. Physicians have become better at diagnosing small heart attacks that might have gone unobserved in the past, and improvements in therapy have made large, fatal heart attacks less common.
The tests for cardiac enzymes released during a heart attack have become very sensitive “and can pick up a very small amount of heart damage,” said Dr. Gregg Fonarow of UCLA’s Reagan Medical Center. “If the attacks are very small, there would not necessarily be any substantial impairment of heart function.”
Cheney’s longtime heart problems actually may be operating in his favor, said Dr. Robert Kloner of USC’s Keck School of Medicine. “It is likely that he has developed collateral blood vessels that grow into the areas not getting enough oxygen. That might be something that is helping him.”
thomas.maugh@ latimes.com
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
