Pacing in high field cardiac magnetic resonance imaging:.

ABSTRACT

Currently, cardiac MRI is contraindicated in patients with an implanted pacemaker or ICD due to safety hazards. However, MRI is promising to play a key role in cardiac diagnostics in near future. This study examined a rat with an implanted pacemaker pacing at a rate of 460/min with high field cardiac MRI. This study showed that pacing during cardiac imaging at 7 Tesla was possible. The pacemaker program was not disturbed by the high field or the strong gradients (maximum dB/dt 400 mT/s). The only noticeable effect on the MRI signal was a signal void of 2 cm around the device.