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MR-compatible cardiac device implants add significant value to patient care

by Lauren Dubinsky, Senior Reporter | February 03, 2016
Cardiology Medical Devices MRI Population Health X-Ray
MR-compatible cardiac device implants have been making headlines in recent months as a surge in magnet-friendly pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) have received regulatory clearance and come to market. The evidence had been established that these devices were safe, but whether or not they were actually useful had yet to be illustrated — until now.

Biotronik received FDA approval for its ProMRI Eluna pacemaker in March of last year. In September Medtronic gained approval for the first MR-compatible ICD, the Evera MRI SureScan ICD System, and in December Biotronik got the nod for administering MR scans to patients with its Iperia ICD system. And that's just to name a few.

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First-of-its-kind results have been published for an ongoing study that aims to determine the value of an MR exam for the unique patient population that requires implantable cardiac devices and may also require access to MR exams, (which turns out to be the majority of them). Researchers out of Pittsburgh's Allegheny General Hospital (AGH) have collected the evidence to suggest MR imaging is clearly bringing vital diagnostic value into their case management.

"With the demonstrated safety of MRI for this patient population when performed at cardiac MRI centers with advanced capabilities, and now our research into the effectiveness of using MRI for these patients, it is simply too important a diagnostic tool not to have in our arsenal as we evaluate and determine the best course of care for patients with implanted devices," Dr. Robert Biederman, one of the lead researchers of the study, told HCB News.

MR is an ideal imaging tool because it's a painless test that uses no radiation and allows clinicians to see extremely detailed, 3-D images of organs. Biederman is seeing an increase of almost 6 percent per year in the use of MR for pacemaker patients.

Over the course of several years, the researchers evaluated 157 patients from three implantable cardiac device case groups — 114 neurological, 36 cardiovascular and seven musculoskeletal. They set out to determine whether or not MR imaging added vital insight to diagnosing the various conditions these patients were suffering from.

In 88 percent of the study's neurology cases, the MR scans provided extra value for the final diagnoses and in 18 percent of the cases the MR scan altered the diagnoses entirely. With regard to cardiac and musculoskeletal cases the extra value percentage was even higher; 92 percent and 100 percent, respectively.

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