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radiologist wants an MRI- but dad has a pacemaker
my 93 year old dad is receiving whole bladder radiation. The doc wants to focus it more- which sounds good, but wants to order a pelvic MRI for imaging purposes. Our dad has a pacemaker- we are asking for a CT scan instead as process of monitoring the electronics of his heart would be too stressful. Curious about experiences as to whether a CT can be ‘useful enough”. Many thanks.
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4 Replies
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thanks so much for this. I just had an mri myself for head and neck and if seemed much louder than one I had 10 or more years ago and stressful!
We have come to a decision not to do mri. Too complicated in my dad’s situation. Too many variables. But very helpful to read this info.
And an awful side effect of radiation is then need to frequently urinate- which would make mri even more intolerable,
Best. -
The article says its safe if the pacemaker is manufactured after year 2000.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center website compares CT scan and MRI as follows.
With a CT scan, we can create an image of almost the entire body, from the neck to the thighs, in a few seconds. CTs are incredibly useful for diagnosing and staging cancer, checking whether it has come back, and monitoring whether a treatment is working. It’s very effective for surveying the entire body to look for places where the cancer has spread, such as the lungs, liver, or bone. These are called metastases. Most of the time, CT is the first choice to stage cancer.
What are the advantages of MRI?
Where MRI really excels is showing certain diseases that a CT scan cannot detect. Some cancers, such as prostate cancer, uterine cancer, and certain liver cancers, are pretty much invisible or very hard to detect on a CT scan. Metastases to the bone and brain also show up better on an MRI.I do not wear a pacemaker, but recently, I had a few MRIs and a CT Angiogram scan of my head and neck.
CT Scan was fast. MRI was long and very loud. I thought the sound would make me a deaf when I went there for the tinnitus problem. Your father needs to lie down still for 30-40 minutes. This part was hard for me as I caughed due to my chronic asthama problem.
best
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Readabook,
The MRI <> pacemaker question should be addressed by his cardiologist; s/he knows the particular details of the unit.
Best
Jack
6/2015 HG Papillary & CIS
3 Years and 30 BCG/BCG+Inf
Tis CIS comes back.
BC clear as of 5/17 !
RCC found in my one & only kidney 10/17
Begin Chemo; Cisplatin and Gemzar
8/18 begin Chemo# 3
Begin year 4 with cis
2/19 Chemo #4
9/19 NED again :)
1/2020 CIS is back
Tried Keytruda, stopped by side effects
Workin on a new plan for 2021 -
No test is perfect, no radiologist is perfect. Your question is way above my pay grade. The doctor wanting to do an MRI should know what he can and can not do with a patient that has a pacemaker. I did have a CT scan that did pick up my tiny papillary tumor almost 13 years ago. Interestingly enough, the radiologist missed it but, my thorough URO saw it.
DX 5/6/2008 TAG3 papillary tumor .5 CM in size. 2 TURBS followed by 6 instillations of BCG weekly with a second round of 6 after a 6 week wait.
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