WASHINGTON - US Vice President Dick Cheney, who has a history of severe heart problems, will require an operation in the next few months to replace the battery in his pacemaker, his office said Friday.
The procedure "will require a small incision and no anesthesia. He will be sedated," spokeswoman Megan McGinn said by electronic mail after the vice president underwent heart tests as part of his annual physical.
After the tests, Cheney returned to his official residence at the Naval Observatory in Washington "to resume his normal schedule," she said.
Cheney underwent a stress test in which a radioactive agent is typically injected into the bloodstream to assess circulation, and doctors checked his implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD), also known as a pacemaker.
"A sestamibi stress test showed no evidence of new coronary blockage. His ICD is functioning properly and has not treated any arrhythmia," McGinn said.
"The ICD battery has reached the level where elective replacement of the device is indicated over the summer. This will be scheduled at a time convenient for the Vice President," she said.
Cheney has been taking blood thinners after doctors discovered a blood clot behind his left knee after a nine-day trip to Asia in March. He also made a week-long visit to the Middle East in mid-May, including a stop in Iraq.
Cheney, 66, had his fourth heart attack in 2000, the year he and US President George W. Bush won the White House. He underwent an angioplasty weeks after being sworn in as vice president in 2001.
In September 2005 he had an operation for blood clots behind each of his knees, and in January 2006 he was hospitalized for shortness of breath.
06/08/2007 17:15 GMT