MRI Compatible PMs

Who out there has experience with having a MRI compatible PM. I am going to ask for one as I have other health issues and will need MRIs in the future. Are they bigger? If so how big? Is the surgery any different and can you have them inserted under the muscle so it does not show so much. I am going to ask my surgeon these questions but wanted to hear what any of you have to say. Thanks

4 Comments

Size matters

by RobertS - 2012-12-23 05:12:37

if it concerns you. I have an MRI compatible pacemaker - a Medtronic - I think called REVO Sure Scan over there in the States - and its 1.77x2.01x.31 inches. The non Sure Scan ones are the same size.

Worth having a look at the Medtronic website as they have revolving 360 degree pictures of their pacemakers.
Mine is under the skin and I'm a skinny guy but the lump is not big. Surgery is the same as far as I know. They just make an incision below the collar bone and make a little pocket for the pm, slot it in and sew up. Took about an hour for me mainly as I am left handed and the surgeon doesn't do many left handed people - we have our pms on the right so its 'backwards' for them. All under local anaesthetic so no added complications and out the same evening.

Best of luck and do ask your surgeon any questions you may have.

0.31

by RobertS - 2012-12-23 05:12:56

Thats 0.31 inches not 31 inches in case you were worried!!
The decimal is hard to see :)

Don't worry

by IAN MC - 2012-12-23 06:12:44

I, too, have a Medtronic MRI compatible PM below the collar bone and unless you knew it was there you wouldn't know.

PMs are getting smaller all the time. The surgery is the same regardless of the type of PM , only the number of leads affects the procedure.

Interestingly recent studies are suggesting that worries about PMs and MRI scans have been overstated .

Best of luck

Ian

I just got an MRI compatible pm

by Andicat - 2012-12-26 11:12:12

Hi Texas,
I just got my first pm on Nov 16th and I got a Medtronic MRI compatible one. I think it's a REVO as well. My doctor recommended it for me because I am in my 30's and he wanted me to have the option to get an MRI if I ever needed one. He said that the device itself is the same size as a non-combatible one, but the leads are slightly bulkier. They also put mine under the muscle. I am quite a thin person and I can see a slightly raised outline of the device under my skin, like a small bump. You see it when it's your own body, but my family insists that definitely noone else will notice it. They are probably right. The surgery is the same, but recovery has been a bit harder than if I had just put it under the skin, as I am still quite sore, but it has only been about 5 weeks, so I am hoping that that will get better soon. Best of luck to you on your journey and keep us posted! This website is a great resource!

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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.