mri and pacemaker

[Taichid]

my doctor wrote to cardiology(the wrong one to start with a question about the safety of a mri scan with a pacemaker. Unfortunately she failed to mention I was pacemaker dependent.

Both hospitals confirmed my pacemaker is mri safe but didn’t get an answe re dependency.

In fact the second very famous hospital said I had 3 leads when fact when in fact there only 2.

The 3rd lead, the defibrillator, couldn’t be inserted.

I suppose it’s back to the doctor which will take another 2 Weeks because she didn’t get right the first time.

[Lezzers]

I really feel for you. My husband had an ICD & was waiting for an MRI. After 4 months he ask the surgery to check he'd been referred! Guess what, he hadnt! So to make up time they referred him to a private clinic for the MRI, we knew from past experience private clinics/hospitals won't deal with him! Guess what, after filling the health questionnaire, the private clinic said no!! So they've referred him to the local hospital, he's just received a NHS letter saying they're reviewing his referral and that they'll be in touch regarding a 'non attendance ' appt. But if he hasn't heard by the end of Jan to phone them!! So basically a telephone appt to assess if he needs an MRI despite 2 different physiotherapists having already gone through the assessment!! By the end of January it will have been 7 months since he was told he needed one & there's no guarantee that he'll get the appt or the MRI!!

[Murderfan58]

Don't know if this helps answer your question or not. When I had my heart MRI a lot of electrodes where placed on my chest and then a large inch thick plate placed over them and fasten to the handles of the sliding bed . To protect them from the magnetic waves . So I suppose they would do the same for you by putting the plate over your chest to protect your pacemaker. Might be worth speaking to someone in the cardiology team if you can access them . I have found them very helpful .

[SoThisIs_Simon]

Many modern pacemakers are MRI safe. I had a 2 lead pacemaker fitted August 2023, and went for an MRI in February this year. Someone from the pacing team attended the scan and put the pacemaker in "safe mode" before I went in for the scan. In this mode it just paced at a constant speed - simple. Once the scan was finished the pacing team put the PM back into its normal mode, and off I went home.

Perhaps ask your pacing team about the dependancy.

[hombrecito in reply to SoThisIs_Simon]

This topic is really interesting. So far a few ptivate hospitals have advised me that a CAT scan is the only option for me with CRT-d fitted. My gastro surgeon was under the impression that Barts in London does have an MRI compatible with those fitted with both types of pacing devices? I would be interested in other members experience on this one. Apologies if this has been covered somewhere already. Best of luck Taichid moving forward.

[Lezzers in reply to hombrecito]

Private hospitals/clinics won't take on patients with an ICD/CRT'd. A private clinic told us us week that their MRI scanners have higher frequencies( I think that's the word she used!) than the NHS scanners and therefore they're too powerful. Personally I think it's more a case of the device has to be put into safe mode, you then have the external defib pads placed on you and an ICD technician/cardiologist has to be there to monitor you until your device is turned back on, so it's much easier to say no rather than take on the risk! Most heart devices are now MRI safe under certain conditions. However, now you can even have an MRI with the older types of devices. My husband had an older type of ICD that wasn't MRI compatible. He needed an MRI for oncology reasons but was told by his oncologist that he can't have one. We spoke to his cardiologist who said don't let anyone ever tell you you can't have an MRI. Its difficult but it can be done, but not all hospitals can do them & those that do them don't do all models. Papworth didn't do them for the ICD my husband had but Bart's did & he was going to be referred there. Unfortunately that didn't happen because of the difficult oncologist. But yes, you can have MRI's if you have a device fitted.

[hombrecito in reply to Lezzers]

Many thanks to you and other replies. Really helpful to know more on this topic.

[Taichid in reply to SoThisIs_Simon]

can you do this though if you are pacemaker dependent

[SoThisIs_Simon in reply to Taichid]

An MRI? My understanding is yes. As noted above the pacing team will put the PM in "safe mode", which then paces the heart at a constant rate. This is effectively the heart being 100% paced/100% dependant. Chat with your pacing team if you have any concerns or questions.

[Pouchielou1972]

I have an ICD and as someone mentioned earlier, when I had my MRI a few months ago, a pacing team member came with me and turned off the defibrillator function and set my pacemaker to pace me throughout for safety, even though I've not had to use the function yet. They stayed throughout the mri to keep an eye on me and when it was over, they returned my settings to their normal mode before I went home.