WASHINGTON, July 27 — Vice President Dick Cheney will undergo minor surgery Saturday morning to replace the battery that powers a device implanted in his chest six years ago to monitor his heart and deliver a shock if it ever goes out of rhythm.
“During the vice president’s annual physical examination in June, testing of his implantable cardioverter defibrillator indicated that the device’s battery has reached the level where elective replacement of the device is recommended,” Megan McGinn, deputy press secretary for Mr. Cheney, said Friday.
The surgery is to be performed at George Washington University Hospital, where doctors will replace the battery part of the defibrillator.
Dr. John Kassotis, director of electrophysiology at the State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center, said that doctors typically used a local anesthetic on the chest and shoulder area below the collar bone. They make an incision and remove the defibrillator’s generator, detaching it from wires that are connected inside the patient’s heart, and connect a new battery.
2 comments:
Are you sure we can't hope he gets a cheap import? LOL
Have no fear Cheney is getting the best healthcare of anyone in this country.
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