WASHINGTON — Doctors administered an electrical shock to Vice President Dick Cheney’s heart and restored it to a normal rhythm during a 2 1/2-hour hospital visit Monday.
The procedure was described as a low-risk, standard practice. Cheney, 66, was expected back at work today.
Cheney, who has a history of heart problems, was discovered to have an irregular heartbeat around 7 a.m. when he was seen by doctors at the White House for a lingering cough from a cold. He remained at work throughout the day, joining President Bush in meetings with Mideast leaders.
The irregular heartbeat was determined to be atrial fibrillation, an abnormal rhythm involving the upper chambers of the heart, said spokeswoman Megan Mitchell. The type of defibrillator Cheney had implanted in 2001 is used to prevent sudden death from a different type of irregular heartbeat that starts in the bottom of the heart. The Associated Press
