TODAY | March 25, 2012
Cheney gets heart transplant
Former vice president Dick Cheney received a new heart after waiting 22 months on the donor list. NBC News chief medical correspondent Dr. Nancy Snyderman explains what the procedure means for Cheney, who had the first of five heart attacks at age 37.
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This content comes from Closed Captioning that was broadcast along with this program.
>>> breaking news aboutq former vice president dick cheney . his second cameu q years later followedt(?r by ako quadruple emergency bypass in 1988 . cheneyr attacks, including one in 2000 during the florida3w recount after which he and george w. bush took office. his fifth heartq attack came in 2010 . after that, doctors inrvalled?i a special device known as a lap ventricle assist or clvan to aid his ailing heart, a device hei] later showe3 to jamie gengel. take whatever the doctors f? recommend, the latest thing, and i've been able toq@)r+e a full, normal, active a5 life.
>> and joining us nowf? isc nbc chief medical editor dr.?? nancy f? snyderman.
>> hey, jenna.
>> hi, nancy, good morning. how difficultw3 of an operation is this??iq we hear heart trans)$9q and it?rs7 sounds so serious.
>> technically, it's not difficult, sewing things in place. the hard part is the waitinkr list because there aren'0o enough organs to go around and the special tissue type. this is not a donor who fits anybody. there is an elegant tissue typing . he was on the waiting list ?i 20 months, average than thexd longer person.
>> the former vice president has had a history of cardiology trouble -- fivei] heart attacks , quadruple surgery --
>> hisxd first was at 37.
>> 37 years old. quadruple bypass , angioplasty. was this inevitable?t(
>> he was born withr heart and he has been at the end stage cardiac failure.c? c1 they even had a device put in1 - as we've been able to see, he went from thw? robust, people who are in?r otherwise good?i?i health. his overall survival rate should be ?i75% e $ the next five years. he does havef? extraordinary bu