Dick Cheney Likely Has End-Stage Heart Disease

[IScreamSundays]

Source: ABC News

Former Vice President Dick Cheney, 69, who underwent surgery last week to implant a pump to assist his heart, may be only one step away from a heart transplant, according to cardiac experts. They say he could find himself on a wait list for "months or years."

Cardiologists say the former vice president has a left ventricular assist device (LVAD), which is often used as a so-called "destination" or permanent device, but in his case is likely a "bridge" that will keep him alive until he can receive a transplant.

The device is implanted next to the heart to help its main pumping chamber, the left ventricle, pump blood through the body. Such devices are used mainly for short periods, to buy potential transplant candidates time as they await a donor organ.

"It's a really good strategy," said Dr. William Abraham, director of the division of cardiovascular medicine at Ohio State University, which does 75 to 100 implantations a year.

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Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/dick-cheney-heart-operation-vice-president-ready-heart/story?id=11170179