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-Short Attention Span Theater-
Dick Cheney receives heart transplant
2012-03-25
Former Vice President Dick Cheney received a heart transplant on Saturday, his office announced.
Best wishes.
A statement from the former vice president's office said the 71-year-old is now recovering in the intensive care unit of Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va., outside Washington.
I'm a touch surprised. At 71 he is a little old for a transplant even if the rest of his body is doing well. He had the LVAD implanted and those aren't meant to last forever, so it just have been time to, as we say in the medical biz, to 'defecate or decommode'.
The statement said Cheney had been on the transplant list for 20 months and did not know the identity of the donor.

"Although the former vice president and his family do not know the identity of the donor, they will be forever grateful for this lifesaving gift," the statement read.

Cheney, who served as President George W. Bush's vice president from 2001 to 2009, has a long history of heart problems. He suffered his first heart attack at age 37 and his fifth in 2010. In 1988, he underwent quadruple bypass surgery and has had several other heart surgeries since then.

In 2010, he had a battery-powered heart pump known as a Left Ventricular Assist Device implanted to keep his heart working - a device that is often used for short periods by patients awaiting a transplant.
The heart transplant groups are using LVADs more and more as longer-term bridges to transplant, and some enterprising ones are using LVADs in place of transplant in higher-risk patients.
Posted by:Steve White

#12  OBTW...Dick Cheney is a National Treasure.
Posted by: canalzone   2012-03-25 21:52  

#11  Isn't Soros on his fourth total organ-harvest refresh/re-set?

He's a Major Demon. That would make sense.
Posted by: canalzone   2012-03-25 21:24  

#10  Sorry that should read: They are allocated hearts that would be turned down for younger recipients.
Posted by: Bushman   2012-03-25 21:13  

#9  Re: Comments regarding his age: Dick Cheney was probably on an alternate list. This has been studied and recipients over 70 have had good results. The are allocated hearts that would normally be turned down for younger donors.

Reference:

Use of two recipient lists for adults requiring heart transplantation
Hillel Laks, MD, Daniel Marelli, MD, Gregg C. Fonarow, MD, Michele A. Hamilton, MD, Abbas Ardehali, MD, Jaime D. Moriguchi, MD, Jessica Bresson, BS, David Gjertson, PhD, Jon A. Kobashigawa, MD, For the UCLA Heart Transplant Group*
From the Heart Transplant Program, University of California, Los Angeles, Calif.
Received 24 January 2002. Revised 18 April 2002. Available online 31 January 2003.
Posted by: Bushman   2012-03-25 21:12  

#8  I like Cheney, but given the supposed system of allocation of scarce resources (doner organs) I do wonder why he - or Jobs, or Hagman - was able to get a transplant.
On the other hand, if the system allowed compensation to the estate of the donor, there might be a lot larger supply.
Then again, there's the Chinese system...
Complex issue.
I do wish Dick well.
Posted by: Glenmore   2012-03-25 18:29  

#7  Heh heh, yep.
Posted by: newc   2012-03-25 15:16  

#6  Search for "Dick Cheney" on twitter to see what the civil compassionate left are saying. If you have low blood pressure & a strong stomach.
Posted by: Cincinnatus Chili   2012-03-25 13:45  

#5  I can imagine what is happening on the democrat hate sites like democratic underground and the like.
Posted by: newc   2012-03-25 12:45  

#4  Nothing personal, but when your number is up... there are very few deferments issued. Good luck to you Darth.
Posted by: Besoeker   2012-03-25 11:37  

#3  This after years of heart trouble. He has always in my opinion had access to the best medical minds in healthcare(GWH). He is one tough cookie. I hope things go well for him. The physical part of this is known. The mental stress of living with this day by day must be faced and endured each day and night.
Posted by: Dale   2012-03-25 10:26  

#2  Getting in before the Death Panels could nix it.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2012-03-25 08:48  

#1  Those LVADs rock. At least one guy sporting one of those things has returned to the doctor without a heartbeat but otherwise feeling perfectly fine.
Posted by: gorb   2012-03-25 05:46  

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