Generally, pacemakers improve quality of life for individuals who have a condition causing bradycardia, or a slowed heart rate. However, because there is an electrical device implanted near your heart, you'll need to be more cautious in certain situations.
For example, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a medical test that can capture images inside your body commonly used to detect brain injury or cancer requires extra care with a pacemaker, as do other medical procedures. Here's what you need to know if you have a pacemaker.
It used to be thought that MRIs weren't safe if you had a pacemaker. According to David J. Callans, MD, associate director of electrophysiology at Penn Medicine, this was an unfounded belief basically, physicists thought the magnetic energy from an MRI could negatively affect pacemakers in two different ways.
First, physicists thought an MRI could cause the pacemaker's electrical components to stop working, or that they might alter the programming that controls how frequently the pacemaker paces.
"Second, it was believed that this energy would be 'focused' by the metallic pacemaker leads, generating heat that would damage the adjacent heart muscle," Callans says.
These assumptions, however, have turned out to not be true. Researchers examined 212 MRIs with 178 patients using previously non-approved devices, and found no evidence of any pacemaker malfunctioning.
To ensure that pacemakers are safe moving forward, manufacturers now use testing to indicate whether current models are MRI conditional. "This has led to much more frequent MRI scanning in patients with pacemakers," Callans says.
According to Callans, whether your pacemaker is MRI-conditional is an important factor to know, and it should be the case for pacemakers made after the year 2000. This will likely be detailed in the information you received when you had it placed. If it's not clear, you can always reach out to the manufacturer using the information listed on your pacemaker identification card.
Since pacemakers are replaced roughly every 10 years, it is likely yours is MRI conditional. But even if it is, you'll still need to be cautious.
Before your MRI, your doctor may want to test your pacemaker or have it re-programmed to ensure that you are not at risk of any complications. You will also be monitored during the MRI using an electrocardiogram, according to Johns Hopkins, to ensure that the pacemaker is continuing to pace your heart correctly during the procedure.
There are other situations that require extra attention to your pacemaker. For example, if you're traveling or going to an event, and security personnel ask to use a metal detector, you should tell them about your pacemaker and ask them for an alternative option for a scan.
Other examples of medical situations that warrant special care for a pacemaker are radiation therapy and lithotripsy, which is a treatment for kidney stones, according to Callan.
"In addition to MRI imaging, it is essential to care for the pacemaker during procedures that require high energy tools," says Callan. "For example, most surgical procedures use electrocautery, which could interfere with pacemaker function."
It used to be true that common electronic devices such as a cell phone or microwave could cause interference with a pacemaker. This isn't the case for newer pacemakers, which have been made to shield interference, according to Callan.
"Only high output electrical devices, like industrial sources, arc welders, and large vehicle alternators, presently have a potential to interfere with modern pacemakers," he says.
If you have a pacemaker or may have one implanted, you should talk with your doctor about all the potential limitations after surgery, and how to best ensure it works properly.
Read more from the original source:
You can have an MRI with a pacemaker, but you'll need to be cautious - Insider - INSIDER
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