Cheney Is Evaluated For an Irregular Heartbeat
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
WASHINGTON — Vice President Cheney, who has a history of heart problems, experienced an irregular heartbeat yesterday and was taken to George Washington University Hospital for evaluation.
The condition was detected when Mr. Cheney was seen by doctors around 7 a.m. at the White House for a lingering cough from a cold. He remained at work throughout the day, joining President Bush in meetings with Middle East leaders.
“During examination, he was incidentally found to have an irregular heartbeat, which on further testing was determined to be atrial fibrillation, an abnormal rhythm involving the upper chambers of the heart,” a spokeswoman, Megan Mitchell, said.
She said Mr. Cheney went to the hospital around 5 p.m. She said that if necessary, he would receive cardioversion, a procedure that involves the delivery of an electric impulse to the heart. About 2.8 million Americans have atrial fibrillation, the most common type of irregular heartbeat, and cases are increasing as the population ages.
