Statement on Vice President Cheney's Medical Procedure

This morning, at George Washington Hospital, the Vice President underwent successful, elective, minimally invasive, endovascular repair of arterial aneurysms behind his right and left knees. Small aneurysms were identified behind both knees during the Vice President's annual physical examination in July.

The procedure was performed by a multidisciplinary team led by Dr. Anthony Venbrux, Director of Interventional Radiology, Dr. Jonathan Reiner, Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, and Dr. Joseph Giordano, Chairman of Surgery. Joining the team were Dr. Barry Katzen, Director of the Baptist Cardiac and Vascular Institute at Baptist Hospital in Miami and Dr. Peter Gloviczki, Chair of Vascular Surgery at Mayo Clinic.

Using local anesthesia, two overlapping Viabahn stent grafts were implanted in the right popliteal artery. The implanted device consists of a flexible, self-expanding stent covering a thin walled graft composed of polytetrafluoroethylene. Placement of the device in the right knee artery went exceedingly smoothly, and an intraoperative decision was made to repair the aneurysm behind the left knee using a similar technique. The procedure lasted six hours and there were no complications.

Presently, the Vice President is awake, alert, and comfortable. Later this afternoon, the Vice President will be briefed on the impact of Hurricane Rita in Louisiana and Texas, as well as the ongoing federal, state and local response. He will remain in the hospital for up to 48 hours to monitor his recovery and is expected to resume his regular schedule when he is released to home.