-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! Cheney hospitalized overnight Doctors find one of vice president’s heart arteries blocked again Vice President Dick Cheney underwent a procedure Monday to reopen a partially blocked heart artery. NBC's David Gregory reports. MSNBC STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS WASHINGTON, March 5 — Vice President Dick Cheney, who has had four heart attacks, underwent a surgical procedure Monday to reopen a partially blocked artery after going to a hospital with chest pains. Doctors at George Washington University Hospital examined Cheney’s heart arteries and found that one they had reopened in late November had partially closed again. BUT CHENEY’S CARDIOLOGIST, Dr. Jonathan Reiner, told reporters there was no sign Cheney had suffered a fifth heart attack. “As of now, there is no evidence of that,” Reiner said. Cheney was in stable condition and expected to remain in the hospital overnight. Reiner said while Cheney suffers from chronic coronary artery disease, he believes there is a “very high likelihood” that Cheney can finish out his term as vice president in vigorous fashion. Cheney, 60, suffered his most recent heart attack in late November but quickly resumed a full schedule after an operation to open the blocked artery, known as angioplasty. Reiner said there was a 40 percent risk of the artery becoming blocked again. During the procedure last November, one of Cheney’s heart arteries was 90 percent blocked, so doctors implanted a wire scaffolding-like device called a stent to push away the blockage and prop open the artery walls. Reiner said that following such stent procedures, there always is a chance of renarrowing — and this is apparently what happened to Cheney. He called it “a very discrete spot of renarrowing.” March 5, 2001 — Doctors say Dick Cheney’s severe history of heart disease indicates he is a great risk for further problems. NBC’s Robert Bazell reports. Reiner said he did not believe Cheney had suffered any additional heart damage. Cheney checked himself into the hospital after feeling chest pain briefly on two occasions on Monday after earlier episodes on Saturday and Sunday, Reiner said. He said the episodes were “much milder and very brief” when compared with the chest pains that Cheney suffered in November. “The symptoms were subtle” this time, Reiner said. Asked whether Cheney had failed to take precautions after his November heart attack, Reiner said no, that the vice president had been “exceedingly diligent” in following both dietary and exercise recommendations, including essentially eliminating red meat from his diet. “He has very nicely adhered to what we wanted him to do,” Reiner said. Advertisement Doctors inserted a flexible tube into the narrowed artery carrying a collapsed balloon. Once the balloon was in place, it was inflated, reopening the artery. President Bush called the vice president to wish him well, said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer. “During their five-minute phone call, the vice president told the president that he was feeling fine and looked forward to returning to work,” Fleischer said. Earlier, Bush confirmed that Cheney was in the hospital, calling it “precautionary measure” when asked about it by reporters. Aides said Cheney, who was working at the White House on Monday, told Bush in the morning that he was experiencing discomfort in his chest and planned to be examined by a doctor. Re-clogged arteries Re-clogging of heart arteries is not uncommon. Consider these facts: • Every year, over 500,000 Americans undergo balloon angioplasty to open up clogged heart arteries. • Of these, about 40 percent to 50 percent experience re-clogging of arteries. • To reduce the risk of re-clogging, doctors often use a tiny piece of metal called a stent to prop open an artery. • Adding a stent to angioplasty reduces the risk of artery re-clogging to about 20 percent. • If re-clogging still occurs with a stent, doctors may try threading radiation-emitting devices inside the artery. AHA, GW Hospital One aide to Cheney said he headed to the hospital about 3:30 p.m. The aide said he appeared normal, even cheerful, all day. In a statement before he underwent the procedure, Cheney aide Mary Matalin said Cheney checked himself into the hospital “for a repeat cardiac catheterization after experiencing two brief, mild episodes of chest discomfort. This is a non-emergency precautionary procedure. An EKG obtained at the White House this afternoon was unchanged from one obtained last Thursday.” PRECAUTIONARY TESTS Matalin said the EKG last week was part of normal follow-up care after the heart attack Cheney suffered late last year. She said Cheney reported the discomfort to his doctor, who advised the vice president to have the new procedure done. In procedures such as the one Cheney underwent Monday, doctors insert a flexible tube into a leg vessel, and it is run from there up to the target artery supplying blood to the heart. At that point, dye is injected. The dye shows up on an X-ray or fluoroscope, enabling doctors to see the flow of blood through the artery. Heart Attacks MSNBC Interactive • Learn how and why a heart attack occurs Cheney suffered a slight heart attack on Nov. 22 but quickly resumed his hectic schedule, heading Bush’s transition team and playing a key role in Cabinet and other personnel picks. Cheney has said he would “absolutely” step down if he or his doctors had any concerns his health would impair his ability to be vice president. “According to the doctors, I’m stronger and healthier than I was six months ago, because we’ve gone in and done that procedure,” Cheney said in December. “If I had any doubts about that, or if they expressed any doubts or reservations about my capacity to do the job, I would not do it.” In a television interview Sunday, Cheney said he felt great. “I am well-behaved. They’ve taken control of my food supply. So I’m trying to do all those things you need do to be a responsible individual with a history of coronary artery disease and somebody who’s 60,” he told CNN. QUADRUPLE BYPASS Cheney suffered his first heart attack when he was 37 and underwent quadruple bypass surgery in 1988 to clear clogged arteries. After his last heart attack, Cheney’s doctors said the accumulation of disease had left his heart moderately damaged. Other heart experts said Cheney was at higher risk for further heart attacks than the average person his age and needed to take such protective steps as losing weight. Late in November, Cheney said his blood pressure was an excellent 106 over 80. He was taking cholesterol-lowering medicine that had kept his total cholesterol level around a good 170, he said. However, he didn’t disclose levels of so-called bad cholesterol and triglycerides, more important than total cholesterol counts. Asked if he feared another heart attack, Cheney said: “I don’t operate that way. ... I look forward to several more years.” A few days after his November heart attack, Cheney demonstrated his back-to-business mindset when he responded to questions about his health by jumping up and down and pumping his arms. Opinions: VP should reveal more about his health Cheney, who has declined to release his full medical records, apparently has lost some weight since then, but aides won’t say how much — or how much he now weighs. He exercises regularly on a treadmill and has been skipping sweets, aides said. The Constitution requires Congress to confirm a new vice president if that office should become vacant. The 25th Amendment, ratified in 1967, has been invoked twice, when Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned in 1973 and again after President Nixon resigned in 1974, elevating Vice President Gerald Ford to the presidency. When Agnew resigned in 1973, Nixon nominated Ford to be his vice president. Less than a year later, Nixon resigned, Ford succeeded him and designated Nelson Rockefeller as vice president. NBC’s David Gregory and Norah O’Donnell and The Associated Press contributed to this report. *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. 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