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WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney underwent surgery on Saturday to repair an aneurysm in his right knee, the first of two such planned operations.
Cheney, who has a history of heart problems, arrived at the George Washington University Hospital Center early Saturday morning for the operation, expected to take about four hours.
He has had four heart attacks, quadruple bypass surgery, two artery-clearing angioplasties and an operation to implant a special pacemaker in his chest.
Sometime later, he will have a similar operation for an aneurysm behind his left knee.
The aneurysms, known as popliteal aneurysms, are not considered life-threatening and doctors say the surgery to correct them is minimally invasive. Cheney was expected to remain in the hospital for up to 48 hours after the operation, said Lea Anne McBride, spokeswoman for the vice president.
The surgery is to be performed under local anesthetic, Cheney's office said. An aneurysm is a ballooning weak spot in an artery that, as blood pounds through, can eventually burst if left untreated. The condition was discovered during Cheney's annual physical in July.
Cheney's aneurysm is expected to be treated with a stent graft threaded through a catheter inserted in the femoral artery at the groin down to the aneurysm site. Fully opened, it's like a little tube inside the artery, keeping the rushing blood from touching the weakened artery walls.
This is a newer technique for patching aneurysms, and an alternative to rerouting blood flow around the weak spot with a vein bypass.
"This is an unconventional approach ... although it's becoming something that most of us are doing in our practice," said Dr. Thomas Bernik, chief of endovascular surgery at St. Vincents Hospital and Medical Center in Manhattan.
He said that if the aneurysm was directly behind the knee, "you do not have a very good result longterm-wise" with a stent. He said that was because the knee is constantly bending, and the stent can break or crack.
However, he said Cheney might not have a vein available for a bypass.
Dr. Peter Kalman, professor of surgery and radiology at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, said the long-term durability of the stent approach was not known. But he said it was less traumatic and less painful, and involves a shorter hospital stay. "It's not complicated if you're experienced," Kalman said.
Cheney, 64, has not had a heart attack since he became vice president in 2001. That year, he had an implantable cardioverter defibrillator inserted in his chest. The pacemaker starts automatically if needed to regulate his heartbeat.
A vascular exam, part of a two-part annual physical Cheney completed in July, identified "small, dilated segments of the arteries behind both knees." But his overall cardio health was judged as good after the first part of the exam, which included a general physical exam, an electrocardiogram and a stress test.
The checkup determined that the pacemaker was working well and never had to be activated.
Cheney, who has a history of heart problems, arrived at the George Washington University Hospital Center early Saturday morning for the operation, expected to take about four hours.
He has had four heart attacks, quadruple bypass surgery, two artery-clearing angioplasties and an operation to implant a special pacemaker in his chest.
Sometime later, he will have a similar operation for an aneurysm behind his left knee.
The aneurysms, known as popliteal aneurysms, are not considered life-threatening and doctors say the surgery to correct them is minimally invasive. Cheney was expected to remain in the hospital for up to 48 hours after the operation, said Lea Anne McBride, spokeswoman for the vice president.
The surgery is to be performed under local anesthetic, Cheney's office said. An aneurysm is a ballooning weak spot in an artery that, as blood pounds through, can eventually burst if left untreated. The condition was discovered during Cheney's annual physical in July.
Cheney's aneurysm is expected to be treated with a stent graft threaded through a catheter inserted in the femoral artery at the groin down to the aneurysm site. Fully opened, it's like a little tube inside the artery, keeping the rushing blood from touching the weakened artery walls.
This is a newer technique for patching aneurysms, and an alternative to rerouting blood flow around the weak spot with a vein bypass.
"This is an unconventional approach ... although it's becoming something that most of us are doing in our practice," said Dr. Thomas Bernik, chief of endovascular surgery at St. Vincents Hospital and Medical Center in Manhattan.
He said that if the aneurysm was directly behind the knee, "you do not have a very good result longterm-wise" with a stent. He said that was because the knee is constantly bending, and the stent can break or crack.
However, he said Cheney might not have a vein available for a bypass.
Dr. Peter Kalman, professor of surgery and radiology at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, said the long-term durability of the stent approach was not known. But he said it was less traumatic and less painful, and involves a shorter hospital stay. "It's not complicated if you're experienced," Kalman said.
Cheney, 64, has not had a heart attack since he became vice president in 2001. That year, he had an implantable cardioverter defibrillator inserted in his chest. The pacemaker starts automatically if needed to regulate his heartbeat.
A vascular exam, part of a two-part annual physical Cheney completed in July, identified "small, dilated segments of the arteries behind both knees." But his overall cardio health was judged as good after the first part of the exam, which included a general physical exam, an electrocardiogram and a stress test.
The checkup determined that the pacemaker was working well and never had to be activated.
