How painful to prepare for MRI-comp?

Hi friends, I've been reading posts in this section but am still confused. I have ankylosing spondylitis/AS (a disease that affects my bones/connective tissue to bones) and have had 4 spinal surgeries so far. I've had this (only one) PM for about 6 years now; it is a Medtronic dual chamber for bradycardia due to heart block in the His bundle (from inflammation from my AS). My physicians/surgeons are constantly saying that I've had "too many" CT's (5 in last 3 months alone), and they are reluctant to do anything other than a sonogram to explore why I have new pain from the most recent spine surgery (ALIF) 9-10 - think I've torn some repairing soft tissue or adhesions. So, I e-mailed my electrophys. about the new MRI-compatible PM and he said he's already implanted one of them and that it was DEFINATELY worthwhile to make an appt. to come in & talk about it. My question to everyone is, just HOW painful/ extensive/difficult is it to remove the leads to prepare for new MRI-comp. PM? I was such a baby after the implant (it hurt me almost as much as did my spine surgeries-don't know why) so now I'm afraid. Are we talking days, weeks, or months, probably, of nerve pain? Would I probably be able to recuperate by myself (am single, live alone), and take care of my pets? Thanks for any feedback.

5 Comments

Recovery

by ElectricFrank - 2011-02-27 11:02:25

As far as the pacemaker replacement is concerned it is easy. The most painful part of the original implant is the making of the pocket. With a replacement you only need to have the pocket opened to access and replace the pacer.

The leads are another matter. I don't have any experience with that procedure. Hopefully one of the folks here who have had leads removed can give you a better idea.

best wishes,

frank

lead removal

by Tracey_E - 2011-02-28 09:02:57

I haven't been through it myself but people here who have and posted about it said it was no worse than the first placement.

Ankylosing Spondylitis/Reiters Syndrome

by GeorgeMetesky - 2012-04-18 10:04:22

Reiter's Syndrome (RS) is often grouped with Yakkwak's Ankylosing Spondylitis/AS; More severe forms often share a genetic marker (HLA-B27) and people with one sometimes have the other (RS/AS). I have Reiter's. Both disorders are rare and can be very nasty. Cause is unknown; treatment is not curative . Some experts believe the heart of someone with Reiter's eventually breaks down. My heart is breaking down and I am looking at having a PM installed to control some of my heart problems. I would appreciate anyone with either Reiter's or Ankylosing Spondylitis comment on how a PM worked out for them.

Re: Ank.Spond. & Reiters on Heart

by Yakkwak - 2012-04-18 10:04:47

Hi George - it is good to reach to others who share similar issues/diseases. Some systemic inflammation caused by my ankylosing Spondylitis reportedly caused intereferred with my Bundle of His' ability to adequately conduct. This was causing missed beats, beats too early, and when I went "splat" on the floor like a fly in the Tom Thumb, my electrophys. immediately set me up for testing and ruled out other things. My first Medtronic dual chamber worked well, and after healing from the pericardial infusion that resulted from cutting out the old leads to they could be replaced with MRI compatible ones, I was fine. After the swelling in the heart went down, I was just fine and have been since. Still have waay to many PVC's , PAC's , etc., but am functioning adequaately. NO more passing out during routine activities (The local Tom Thumb Grocery Store is very grateful - I cause such commotion -- argh). I think the anti-inflammatories I am on do help (sulfasalazine) but the new anti-tnf alpha drugs (Embrel, Humera, Symponi, Remicaid, etc.) work the best but I cannot afford the several TT bills it would cost me per month right now. Think the combination of oral meds, IM meds, and two leads (one atrial, one ventricular) helps those of us with conduction issues. Feel free to contact me any time you would like to share. George - keep us posted as you continue on your journey toward health.
Rene' aka Yakkwak

re: Re: Ank.Spond. & Reiters on Heart

by GeorgeMetesky - 2012-04-19 12:04:20

Hi Yakkwak …

Thank you for your quick comments.

I have severe Reiter’s for about 35 years. Along the way, I have had to manage my own disorder (with the aid of competent but non-Reiter’s knowledgeable physicians), as RS, as well as your AS are poorly understood. I am a university research professor (Computer Science). My university includes a major research hospital. (Does not mean that the answers are known, but that we read/write a lot of technical papers.)

My current drugs for my RS is Celebrex as it does double duty and helps my worn out knees. I went:
Prednisone ->
Indocin + Cytotec ->
Celebrex + aspirin
I haven’t tried the anti-tnf alpha drugs because I am being as conservative as possible and I am worried about the TNF drugs side effects. The Celebrex also allows me to continue to be very physically active. My cardiologist does not like Celebrex, but my knee doc does.

I am here because I have a heart block and my cardiologist is recommending a Medtronic pacemaker that is supposed to be OK in MRIs. He also is pressing to put me on Coumadin because I am AFib, and have been for awhile. He wants to implant the pacemaker in three days. Then, start Coumadin. I am doubtful on the Coumadin and so far have not found anyone with either AS or RS with Coumadin experience.

It has been a busy and scary week; I am pausing and researching before taking the next step. In three days, I went from an echo cardiogram to a cardiac stress test to a left and right cath (just discharged today). The cath was done with the expectation that I would have to replace both my heart valves, fortunately, not needed yet. And so I have to consider whether to implant the pacemaker. The pacemaker would be put in because I have a slow heart beat (45-55). I have had several episodes of shortness of breath, but I have not passed out. The shortness of breath may have been because of a case of flu.

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