(HealthDay News) --
MRI scans can pose a serious risk to people with heart pacemakers, researchers
warn.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration researchers exposed pacemakers to a simulated MRI magnetic field and then measured the electrical voltage produced at the tip of the pacemaker lead, where it would touch the interior of the patient's heart.
The exposure to MRI magnetic pulses caused certain pacemakers to deliver a drastically altered pulse and stimulate the heart inappropriately, which could have serious consequences for a patient, the study authors reported in the Dec. 14 edition of BioMedical Engineering OnLine.
"MRI systems emit several types of extremely intense magnetic fields and have caused injury to patients due to interactions with pacemakers," study author Howard Bassen said in a news release from the journal's publisher. "Cardiologists who choose to scan patients with cardiac pacemakers must assess the risks versus the benefits of the scan. This paper identifies one more risk."
About 40 million MRI scans are performed annually in the United States, where 10 million people have pacemakers. Read more…
U.S. Food and Drug Administration researchers exposed pacemakers to a simulated MRI magnetic field and then measured the electrical voltage produced at the tip of the pacemaker lead, where it would touch the interior of the patient's heart.
The exposure to MRI magnetic pulses caused certain pacemakers to deliver a drastically altered pulse and stimulate the heart inappropriately, which could have serious consequences for a patient, the study authors reported in the Dec. 14 edition of BioMedical Engineering OnLine.
"MRI systems emit several types of extremely intense magnetic fields and have caused injury to patients due to interactions with pacemakers," study author Howard Bassen said in a news release from the journal's publisher. "Cardiologists who choose to scan patients with cardiac pacemakers must assess the risks versus the benefits of the scan. This paper identifies one more risk."
About 40 million MRI scans are performed annually in the United States, where 10 million people have pacemakers. Read more…
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