Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney
Cheney has survived five heart attacks -- his first at age 37 -- and his care has run the gambit of interventions, ranging from coronary stents to prop open blocked heart arteries, heart bypass surgery to re-route blood flow around diseased arteries, an implantable heart defibrillator to safeguard against potentially dangerous rhythms. Reuters

Former Vice President Dick Cheney said he might need to have heart transplant operation, given his long history of cardiovascular problems.

Speaking on NBC TV, he said he is currently moving around by use of a battery-powered heart pump, which makes it awkward to walk around.

I'll have to make a decision at some point whether I want to go for a transplant, he said,

However, he added that he hasn't made a final decision yet on a possible transplant, but noted that the technology is getting better and better.

Cheney, who will be 70 next year, has suffered five heart attacks over the past three decades, including one last year.

In 1988, he underwent bypass surgery, followed by two subsequent angioplasties to clear narrowed coronary arteries.

By 2001, a pacemaker was implanted on his chest. Seven years later, physicians restored normal rhythm to his heart through an electric shock.

Separately, Cheney praised President Obama for his speech that came following the massacre in Tucson, Ariz.

I'm not an Obama supporter by nature, but I thought it was one of his better efforts, he stated.

Medicine