Contraindications for MRI of the heart. 5

Contraindications for MRI of heart. Cardiac MRI Contradictions include metal objects in sensitive parts of body (eyes, brain, heart). Video interview with leading expert in radiology, CT and MRI specialist. Indications and contraindications for an MRI Scan are generally few. Cardiac MRI Contradictions are, however, many. Is MRI contraindicated after coronary stent placement? Dr. Anton Titov, MD. Generally coronary artery stents are safe to scan in MRI. But heart stents create MRI signal artifact that makes MRI picture look bad. Allergy to IV contrast dye and previous allergic reaction are relative contraindications to magnetic resonance imaging. MRI safety is very important to comply with. Therefore MRI center technologist will go through safety of magnetic resonance imaging with each patient. Will an MRI affect my heart stents? Dr. Anton Titov, MD. No, cardiac MRI will not likely affect coronary artery stents. But MRI picture quality will decrease. Medical Second Opinion confirms that MRI findings are correct and meaningful. Medical Second Opinion also helps to choose the best treatment strategy for heart disease. Dr. Kent Yucel, MD. Seek medical Second Opinion on heart muscle disease and be confident that your treatment is the best. MRI contraindications and precautions are very important to observe. Most prosthetic heart valves and annuloplasty rings are safe for MRI study. MRI is also safe with joint replacements, sternal wires (atrial septal defect and patent foramen ovale closure devices)and most prosthetic heart valves. Dr. Kent Yucel, MD. CT and MRI specialist, Tufts Medical Center. Cardiac MRI scan is little bit more complicated. Because the MRI scanner is tight, it is a small space. There are some newer scanners that have bigger spaces. But in general cardiac MRI requires the best MRI scan. And those best MRI scanners tend to be tight spaces. Dr. Kent Yucel, MD. So there are patients who are claustrophobic. Who are afraid of tight spaces. They can have real trouble in MRI scan. Some of those patients can be helped by medicine that help them relax. Or by family members who come into the scanner with them. But still there are patients who have claustrophobia. They just can’t have an MRI scan. Another thing with MRI is this. When you go for MRI scan, the MRI technologist with go through a list of specific questions. Because there are certain implantable devices, like pacemakers and certain other devices that are not compatible with a magnetic field. So that is true of all MRI scans: knee MRI or cardiac MRI scans. The MRI center will go through that checklist with everyone before the get scanned. . MRI contraindications list typically includes pregnancy, brain aneurysm clip, cochlear implant, foreign body in eye, metal shrapnel or bullet, insulin pump, medication infusion port, cardiac pacemaker or defibrillator. Dr. Anton Titov, MD. In general, if somebody had coronary artery stent placement. Or another common situation is a patient with joint replacement who needs an MRI. Is medical implants compatible with MRI? Dr. Anton Titov, MD. Dr. Kent Yucel, MD. Most metal devices that are implantable are OK to scan. There is a very small list of them that are not. (Some implantable devices not compatible with MRI scanner.) So as I said, the technologists at the MRI center have that small list. They will go through it with patients. The vast majority of implantable devices can be scanned. Coronary stents can be scanned. But they can create these big black holes. Quality of image depends on how many stents there are, what kind of stents they are. Stents may impair visualization of the heart. Metal around the heart is not a great situation. Not because you can’t be scanned but because it will make the heart harder to see. But orthopedic devices, which are very common, are all safe to scan. Dr. Anton Titov, MD. So any patient should have a discussion with the MRI technicians or MRI radiologist before doing any MRI scan. To find out what kind of metal the patient might have in the body. Dr. Kent Yucel, MD. The one device that patients with cardiac conditions are likely have that is a problem for MRI scanning is a cardiac pacemaker. There is one cardiac pacemaker that is manufactured that is MRI compatible, but depending on the site location of patients very few patients may have that pacemaker MRI compatible pacemaker. So the vast majority pacemakers are a contraindication to MRI scanning, because the pacemakers is a electrical device that interacts with the magnetic field in ways that may hurt the patient. Dr. Anton Titov, MD. Is it the heating of pacemaker’s metal wires and leads,. This might be a problem or is that just malfunction of the device, or is the strength of magnetic field is so high, that the pacemaker can be sucked into the magnet? Dr. Anton Titov, MD. Dr. Kent Yucel, MD. No, devices that have been implanted for a long time are well incorporated in the body so they don’t move significantly. But the big issue with that pacemakers is they can malfunction and that could be a problem for patients with pacemakers. Now, a few patients have been scanned by MRI in the world with pacemakers under very special conditions, and under very tight supervision by their cardiologists, but as a routine matter patients with pacemakers do not get MRI scans. Dr. Anton Titov, MD. This is very helpful to know. Contraindications for MRI of heart. Video interview with leading expert in radiology, CT and MRI specialist. Cardiac MRI contraindications are few but important.