Cheney Gets Clean Bill Of Health

Vice President Dick Cheney got good news Friday during his annual heart checkup, with a pacemaker detecting no irregular heartbeat, his office said.

The vice president has a history of cardiac problems, including four heart attacks over the years, but doctors said the latest tests indicate his cardiac status is stable, reports CBS News Correspondent Peter Maer.

The checkup determined that Cheney's pacemaker – called an implantable cardioverter defibrillator – was working fine and never had to be activated. The device is designed to activate automatically if needed to regulate the patient's heartbeat.

Cheney underwent the routine exam at George Washington University Medical Center. It included a physical exam, an electrocardiogram, an echocardiogram and a stress test. They are noninvasive procedures and the vice president went back to work.

"The vice president's cardiac status remains stable; his (implantable cardioverter defibrillator) neither detected nor treated any arrhythmia; his exercise capacity continues to be excellent; and his stress test is unchanged," said Cheney spokeswoman Jennifer Mayfield.

Cheney will have a colonoscopy and a screening test for vascular disease later this month.