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Cheney released from hospital

By the CNN Wire Staff
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Former VP Cheney released from DC hospital
  • Cheney's hospitalization due to recurring heart trouble
  • Cheney was suffering from irregular heart rhythm
  • Cheney has had five heart attacks

Washington (CNN) -- Former Vice President Dick Cheney was released Monday from a Washington hospital, according to a spokesman for the former vice president.

The cause for the former vice president's hospitalization was related to his recurring heart trouble, a family friend of Cheney's told CNN Sunday. Cheney was suffering from atrial fibrillation, or irregular heart rhythm, the friend said.

Cheney was admitted to George Washington University Hospital on Friday as a result of "progressive retention of fluid related to his coronary artery disease," his office office said.

At the hospital, Cheney was placed on intravenous medication and his condition "markedly improved," his office said in a statement Saturday.

Cheney has a long history of heart problems.

He suffered his first heart attack in 1978, when he was 37. He had his second heart attack in 1984 and a third in 1988 and underwent a quadruple bypass surgery to unblock his arteries.

Shortly after Cheney was elected vice president in November 2000, he had a fourth heart attack and received a stent to open an artery.

In February, Cheney suffered his fifth heart attack.