Cheney returns to work after leg check-up

Vice President Dick Cheney listens to President Bush make a statement in the Rose Garden at the White House, April 3, 2007. Cheney will have his leg examined by his doctor on Tuesday, more than a month after a blood clot was found in his left leg when he returned from a nine-day trip to Asia.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney returned to work on Tuesday after an ultrasound exam showed a blood clot in his leg was gradually improving, his office said.

"The vice president's doctors advised him to continue the current course of treatment. He has returned to the White House to resume his normal schedule," said Megan McGinn, a spokeswoman for Cheney.

Cheney has been taking blood-thinning medication since the clot was discovered in his left leg after he returned from a nine-day trip to Asia more than a month ago.

He visited his George Washington University doctors at their office on Tuesday morning for a checkup. "The ultrasound was reassuring and showed that the clot is gradually resolving. His blood-thinning medication was found to be in the desired range," McGinn said.

She said "resolving" was a medical term for the body starting to reabsorb the clot.

Cheney, one of President George W. Bush's closest advisers, has had a history of heart problems, including four heart attacks, but none since becoming vice president in January 2001.

The medical examination of Cheney prompted Rep. Dennis Kucinich, an Ohio Democrat running for president, to postpone a news conference where he planned to call for the impeachment of the vice president. His proposal is expected to be a long shot.

"Until the vice president's condition is clarified, I am placing any action on hold," Kucinich said in a statement.