AZURE pacemaker and MRI

Hi all,

Long story short, I now need a special MRI scan called a Enterography of the small bowel. I really need to know what is going on with my constant lower abdominal pain so really need to have this.

My pacemaker is an AZURE surescan MRI pacemaker. Will this be straight forward for the hospital to complete the scan? It is a huge hospital which also completes pacemaker implants.

Kind regards

quikjraw

 

 

 


6 Comments

MRI

by AgentX86 - 2021-11-05 13:26:48

MRIs are pretty straight forward.  You will need to have in a hospital, likely one with a cardiac department.  You will need to have a PM tech save your settings, set your pacemaker to ""dumb" mode, then reload your settings after.  The mechanics are pretty straight forward.

Getting there is much harder.  The radiologist will need to have all 'i's dotted and ''t's crossed before he will let you anywhere near an MRI.  You will need to have clearance from at least your EP or cardiologist.  The radiologist won't take any risk.  Your PM card will carry absolutely no weight.  Your "Sure Scan" means that your PM is "conditionally" PM safe.  It may or may not be.  That's what your EP/cardiologist is going to take responsibily for.  It took me a month to get all the paperwork done, then 30 minutes for the MRI.  The techs knew exactly what needed to be done.

SAFETY OF MRI's

by Gemita - 2021-11-05 13:42:37

John, firstly I am really sorry to hear this.  You have more than enough to worry about without worrying needlessly about the safety of an MRI.   My husband has had two MRIs since implant and his system is a year older than yours (also Medtronic).  I believe your device and leads are only a couple years old and are MRI compatible, safe, providing certain safety precautions are carried out before your scan.  This entails putting device in a safe mode for the duration of the scan and then restoring the settings to their former values afterwards.

It is also all about getting the different specialities to talk to each other.  I advise getting your cardiologist to confirm by email to your gastroenterologist what needs to happen for you to remain safe.  

This was an email from my EP when I recently enquired about a spinal MRI which I need:  “Hello Therese, I can confirm that your device is MRI compatible.  A physiologist would attend your MRI to do a routine check, then put it into the MRI safe mode.  After the MRI they would put it back to the original settings and repeat the tests again”.  I have an implanted 2018 Medtronic Ensura DR SureScan John.

Both leads and device should preferably be MRI compatible, although many members are still having an MRI with older leads/newer devices and have still remained safe.  If you want to read the technical stuff, see link below.   Also remember best go to a large, main hospital who will be familiar with dealing with pacemaker patients in an MRI environment.  Good luck John

https://www.medtronic.com/content/dam/medtronic-com/01_crhf/surescan/uc201607767en-patient-scanning-process.pdf?bypassIM=true

MRI

by Dixie Chick 65 - 2021-11-05 15:02:47

Quikjraw - I have the same PM, AZURE sure scan and I had an MRI in March. In the hospital and a Medtronic tech was present, just as Agent said. 
Naturally, everything was approved and set up in advance and there were no problems. 

 

Had MRI As Well

by MinimeJer05 - 2021-11-06 10:34:23

Hello,

I believe I have the same device as you and I recently had a brain MRI without issue. The PM Tech I met with beforehand was very informative and cautious when adjusting the settings for the MRI. 

For me, they put me in a constant 90bpm state, which felt a little weird when they were adjusting it, but was comfortable enough during the scan. 
 

Afterwards, met with the same tech and was set back to normal and on my way. 
 

I hope the process is as smooth and as painless for you -- take care

Jer

mri

by new to pace.... - 2021-11-08 16:06:09

All of a suden i am also now finding this time  that there are more hoops to jump through than the last time for myself with an MRI.  Now finding have to fax my pacemaker card.  Then they will contact the cardilogist  to sign a release form.  Which i did not do the last time.  before they will schedule  the MRI at a major hospital.  

new to pace

thank you

by quikjraw - 2021-11-09 06:06:31

That does make me feel a lot better thank you all.

quikjraw

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As for my pacemaker (almost 7 years old) I like to think of it in the terms of the old Timex commercial - takes a licking and keeps on ticking.