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former vice president dick cheney Battling heart disease most of his adult life, his life was extended by a heart transplant in 2012.
Cheney, who died Monday of pneumonia and complications from heart and vascular disease, had suffered her first heart attack at the unusually young age of 37. He would live four more years before his heart weakened enough to qualify for a transplant.
Heart disease is the nation’s No. 1 killer and Cheney’s decades of health problems illustrate how heart problems can escalate — as well as the various treatments.
History of Cheney’s Heart
Over the years, Cheney underwent quadruple bypass surgery to reroute blood flow around blocked heart arteries, as well as less invasive artery-clearing angioplasty. A pacemaker was implanted to monitor his heartbeat. He also experienced blood vessel problems in his legs.
Heart attacks damage the heart muscle, eventually making it harder to pump properly. After Cheney’s fifth heart attack in 2010, he acknowledged that “congestive heart failure is progressing.” He received another implant, a small pump called a “left ventricular assist device,” or LVAD. That device took over the job of his heart’s main pumping chamber, which was powered by batteries worn in a fanny pack.
Cheney had a heart transplant in 2012
Then in March 2012, at the age of 71, Cheney had a heart transplant. Like him, more than 70% of heart transplant recipients survive at least five years or even longer. Cheney was older than a typical heart transplant recipient; Most are between 50 and 64 years old. But according to the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplant Network, or UNOS, he was one of 362 people age 65 or older who received a new heart in 2012.
Heart transplants are increasing, but not fast enough
There is a great need for more transplanted hearts. Hundreds of thousands of adults suffer from advanced heart failure, yet many are never placed on a transplant list due to organ shortage. According to UNOS, 4,572 people underwent heart transplants last year. This number has gradually increased since Cheney – there were 2,378 transplants in 2012. Last year the number of recipients age 65 or older was 905.
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