Former VP Cheney has heart pump implanted

WASHINGTON, July 14 (UPI) -- Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said Wednesday he had a heart booster pump implanted in his chest last week.

Cheney, 69, who has had five heart attacks and was hospitalized last month for discomfort from fluid build-up related to his heart condition, had the procedure done at Inova Fairfax Heart Center in the Washington area, The Washington Post reported.

Cheney said in a statement he had a Left Ventricular Assist Device, a small pump that improves heart function, implanted, which he said will allow him to "resume an active life."

"A few weeks ago, it became clear that I was entering a new phase of the disease when I began to experience increasing congestive heart failure," he said. "After a series of recent tests and discussions with my doctors, I decided to take advantage of one of the new technologies available."

The mechanism, placed in the chest and attached to the heart's main chamber, helps pump blood through the body's blood vessel. It is powered, via wires, by a battery pack usually carried over the shoulder, the Post said.