Doctors say Cheney blood clot is improving

VP has follow-up ultrasound examination of blood clot diagnosed in March

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updated 11:33 a.m. ET April 24, 2007

WASHINGTON - The blood clot in Vice President Dick Cheney's left leg is improving, according to doctors who checked his leg Tuesday, a spokeswoman said.

Cheney was taken to his doctor's office for an ultrasound of the clot, then returned to the White House to resume his normal schedule, said Megan McGinn, a spokeswoman for the vice president.

"The ultrasound was reassuring and showed that the clot is gradually resolving," she said. "His blood thinning medication was found to be in the desired range. The vice president's doctors advised him to continue the current course of treatment."

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The 66-year-old Cheney has a history of heart problems. Blood clots that form deep in the legs can become killers if they break off and float into the lungs. This is called a pulmonary embolism. Deep vein thrombosis strikes an estimated 2 million Americans each year, killing 60,000.

Cheney's doctor's office is located at the George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates near George Washington University Hospital.

Discomfort on March 20
Cheney went to the hospital on March 20 after experiencing discomfort in his left lower leg. McGinn said then that the ultrasound revealed no extension or complication of his clot and that his blood thinning medication was therapeutic.

Cheney has had had a number of heart-related problems over the years.

He had six hours of surgery on his legs in 2005 to repair a kind of aneurysm, a ballooning weak spot in an artery that can burst if left untreated. He has had four heart attacks, quadruple bypass surgery, two artery-clearing angioplasties and an operation to implant a special pacemaker in his chest.