Now, a new type of MRI-safe cardiac pacemaker is on the market, and 2 local men are among the first to get it.
They received the new SureScan pacing system during nearly simultaneous procedures at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, New Jersey, and St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne, Bucks County.
The SureScan was just approved by the Food & Drug Administration last week.
In the past, patients with pacemakers were advised not to get MRI scans, because the MRI could disrupt the cardiac device, causing serious complications or damaging the pacemaker.
66-year-old Paul Williams of Waterfordworks, New Jersey, who was the patient at Cooper, had developed a heart condition that requires electrical help to regulate his heartbeat. However, he is also a thyroid cancer survivor, and his doctors recommend he get periodic scans to watch for recurrences.
The 80-year-old patient at St. Mary has atrial fibrillation and a weak heart beat.
While he doesn't currently undergo MRI scans, it has been estimated that there is a 50 to 75 per cent probability that cardiac device patients will need them over their lifetime. Experts estimate more than 200,00 patients every year have to forego an MRI scan because they have a pacemaker.
Dr. Scott Burke, the medical director of St. Mary's Electrophysiology Lab says the new device is "a significant advancement for a technology that benefits our patients."
Doctors says with the new pacemaker, doctors won't have to choose between treatment for one condition or another.
Dr. Andrea Russo, Cooper's Director of Electrophysiology, says, "We believe this will become the standard of care for patients who require implantable devices."
