William Clinton: Coronary bypass surgery

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	The Health and Medical History of President
	William Clinton: Coronary bypass surgery

coronary bypass

On Sept. 2, 2004, Clinton was evaluated at Northern Westchester Hospital in New York for chest pain and shortness of breath. Results were normal, and Clinton went home. The next day, further evaluation at the Westchester Medical Center (probably a cardiac angiogram) led to the recommendation for urgent four-vessel coronary bypass grafting [13].

Clinton ultimately underwent successful bypass.

Comment: Apparently Clinton had unstable angina, not a heart attack. Dr. Zebra has not, however, seen this explicitly mentioned in published reports. Angina (a type of chest discomfort) occurs when heart muscle is starved for oxygen. This starvation may or may not cause part of the starved muscle to die. By contrast, a heart attack ("myocardial infarction") has occurred when part of the heart muscle has died, however small. Blood tests are the best way to distinguish angina from a heart attack.

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The following text was released by Clinton's office on Sept. 3, 2004 [11]:

Former President Bill Clinton is being admitted to New York-Presbyterian Hospital today and is scheduled to have bypass surgery.
The former president went to Northern Westchester Hospital yesterday afternoon after experiencing mild chest pain and shortness of breath. Initial testing was normal and he spent the night at home in nearby Chappaqua, New York. After undergoing additional testing this morning at Westchester Medical Center, doctors advised he should undergo bypass surgery.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and (daughter) Chelsea Clinton will be with the president in New York City.

Resources

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Disclosure: Doctor Zebra gets a few pennies if you click & buy from Amazon.

Associated Press. Clinton 'glad to be home' after second operation. Washington Post. March 15, 2005; page A3.
Accessed from Washingtonpost.com
Brown, David. Clinton to undergo follow-up chest surgery. Washington Post. March 9, 2005; page A2.
Accessed from Washingtonpost.com
Bumgarner, John R. The Health of the Presidents: The 41 United States Presidents Through 1993 from a Physician's Point of View. Jefferson, NC: MacFarland & Company, 1994. ISBN 0-89950-956-8 @ Amazon [a] pp. 297, 298 [b] p. 298 [c] p. 300 [d] pp. 298-299 [e] pp. 298, 299 [f] p. 299
Devotes one chapter to each President, through Clinton. Written for the layperson, well-referenced, with areas of speculation clearly identified, Dr. Zebra depends heavily on this book. Dr. Bumgarner survived the Bataan Death March and has written an unforgettable book casting a physician's eye on that experience.
(CNN). Clinton should recover fully from knee surgery. CNN.com. March 14, 1997.
http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9703/14/nfm/knee/
(CNN). White House doctors: the President's shadow. CNN.com. September 24, 2004.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/09/23/wh.doctors/
Findlay, S. Clinton sees little anthrax threat to civilians. USA Today. December 17, 1997.
Gibbs, Nancy. Interview: "I had to ask myself whether I would stay married". Time. June 16, 2003, pages 28-29.
Greenberg, DS. Hale to the chief. Lancet. 1999;353:1894.
Grundy SM, et al. Implications of Recent Clinical Trials for the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III Guidelines. Circulation. 2004; 110: 227-239.
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/cholesterol/atp3upd04.htm
Kelly, Virginia. Leading with My Heart. NY: Simon & Schuster, 1994. ISBN 0671888005 @ Amazon
This was reported by a reader. I have not checked the reference myself.
King J, Henry E. Bill Clinton to undergo bypass surgery. CNN. cnn.com on September 3, 2004 at 2:59pm EDT.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/09/03/clinton.tests/index.html
Mathews J. The shrinking field. Washington Post. August 3, 1999. Page C1.
Accessed through washingtonpost.com: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/tall080399.htm
Milbank, D. Bill Clinton to undergo heart bypass surgery. Washington Post. washingtonpost.com on September 3, 2004 at 3:25pm.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59226-2004Sep3.html
O'Keefe JH, et al. Optimal low-density lipoprotein is 50 to 70 mg/dl. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2004; 43: 2142-2146.
Time Magazine Staff. Hillary unbound. Time. June 16, 2003; page 28.
This magazine article is an excerpt of Mrs. Clinton's book Living History.
Wald NJ, Law MR. A strategy to reduce cardiovascular disease by more than 80%. BMJ [British Medical Journal]. 2003; 326: 1419.
Web page: http://www.doctorzebra.com/madcow/details.html
Another fascinating web page from Dr. Zebra!
White House. Press release. Office of the Press Secretary. January 12, 2001.
http://clinton5.nara.gov/library/hot_briefings/January_12_2001.html
The William Clinton web page at the White House.
(12 matches when checked in November 2003)

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