Cheney treated for clot in left leg

WASHINGTON — Vice President Dick Cheney was treated Monday for a blood clot in his left leg that independent experts said was probably not related to his history of heart disease but rather the result of his recent around-the-world trip, which included 65 hours of plane travel over nine days.

Cheney's office said the vice president experienced "mild calf discomfort" Monday after delivering a late morning speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars and visited his doctor's office at George Washington University.

An ultrasound revealed a deep venous thrombosis, a blood clot, in the lower portion of his left leg. He was treated with anti-coagulant medication, which he will take for several months, and he returned to work. Although blood clots in the leg can be dangerous if left untreated, experts say most are successfully treated with the anti-coagulant drugs that the White House says Cheney is now receiving.

A key determinant in treating blood clots in the leg is the size of the clot, which a statement Monday from Cheney's office did not describe. Nor did the statement give the clot's specific anatomical location.

In September 2005, Cheney underwent surgery to repair aneurysms, bulges in the arteries that can spawn dangerous blood clots, behind both knees. Doctors implanted devices known as stent-grafts in each of Cheney's legs.

The blood clot that was discovered in Cheney's leg on Monday was in a vein, not an artery, and several independent experts said there was most likely no connection between it and the 2005 surgery. Dr. Cameron Akbari, a senior vascular surgeon at Washington Hospital Center in the District of Columbia, said Cheney's history of heart disease put him at only "a very slightly increased risk" of developing a deep venous thrombosis.

"Reasons No. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 why he developed this are he was on a very long plane ride," Akbari said.

In otherwise healthy people, such clots most often develop among those who are sedentary, bedridden after orthopedic or major surgery, or during pregnancy. Deep venous thrombosis can also develop after long flights or car rides.

The clots form when blood pools; doctors often advise patients to walk the aisles of a plane, or make road stops every few hours to keep blood circulating. Cheney's plane, Air Force Two, is roomy, but White House officials did not say how much he walked around during his trip.