"Former Vice President Dick Cheney battled heart disease for most of his adult life, a life extended thanks in part to a heart transplant in 2012. Cheney, who died Monday due to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, had his first heart attack at the unusually young age of 37. He would go on to survive four more before his heart declined enough to qualify for that transplant."
"Heart attacks damage the heart's muscle, eventually making it harder to pump properly. After Cheney's fifth heart attack in 2010, he acknowledged "increasing congestive heart failure." 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, powered by batteries worn in a fanny pack."
Dick Cheney experienced persistent heart disease from a young age, suffering his first heart attack at 37 and four more over subsequent decades. He underwent quadruple bypass surgery, multiple angioplasties, and had a pacemaker implanted, along with blood vessel interventions for leg problems. After a 2010 heart attack he developed increasing congestive heart failure and received a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) that supported his main pumping chamber. In March 2012, at age 71, he received a heart transplant. More than 70% of transplant recipients live at least five years, and 362 people aged 65 or older received new hearts in 2012.
Read at ABC7 Los Angeles
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