Angiogram

No, not myself …..

by IAN MC - 2018-03-20 14:46:55

... but I have a good friend who recently has  ( and subsequently had successful open-heart surgery for blocked arteries.)  The fact that he had a pacemaker did not seem to be a major issue as they are accustomed to such clinical situations .

Pacemakers can be put in a safe mode for MRIs and external pacemakers can be used if required for other procedures  . You will not be the first !

Best of luck

Ian

MRI

by islandgirl - 2018-03-20 16:24:35

There are many discussions about MRIs on this site.  Ian Mc is correct---they put it in 'safe mode' before the test, then take it out of safe mode and the prior settings are returned.  Takes a couple of minutes for the tech before and after.  I have had ablations since the pacemaker, and they cram multiple wires into the heart for the ablations with the pm wires.  I'm sure they do angiograms all the time on patients with implanted devices.

Ahgiogram & others...

by donr - 2018-03-20 19:34:05

Angiogram - same processs as a heart Cath.  Had one of those last Jan.  No big deal.  Fluid tracer/dye stays in the coronary arteries where they are looking for conctrictions in the vessels.  All your wires are in the inside of the  chambers except for the short section between the PM & the entrance of the vein into the heart.  Also - the contrast dye has to travel through the chambers to get out of your body via the kidneys..  The outer cover of the leads is stainless steel, to protect them from the body fluids, which are corrosive beyond belief. Not to worry.

Donr

MRI in UK

by LondonAndy - 2018-03-21 04:12:58

I had an MRI in October 2017, without any issues at all.  The problem for me was getting one in the first place!  It took 2 years, and was finally done at Barts where they do such scans for other hospitals in a pioneering scheme.  I have contact details if you experience delays getting an MRI done.

Procedure and leads

by Janey L - 2018-03-21 13:27:31

Hi. I haven't had an angiogram since having my PM (but have had them in past), or MRI, but just to let you know I have had an ablation while my PM and leads were in place. I was worried about the ablation catheter being near my pacemaker leads in my heart but my EP was able to see everything clearly on screen and it was all fine. I was awake.

Best wishes

Janey

Recent angiogram survivor here

by KieferSkunk - 2018-04-27 03:38:11

I recently had an angiogram done with a pacemaker.  I was born with third-degree AV Block and became pacer-dependent in 2002 (dual-chamber).  I developed "pacemaker-induced cardiomyopathy" - basically congestive heart failure symptoms due to the fact that the right side of my heart was being paced but the left side wasn't.

My cardiologist first had me do an echocardiogram (ejection fraction of 35%, which he deemed "critical"), then a chemical stress test (I experienced angina during that test), then an angiogram to make sure I didn't have coronary artery disease.

Thankfully, my angiogram went very smoothly - the doctor told me afterward that mine was actually the cleanest he'd had in quite some time, no sign of any problems with my arteries.  It basically confirmed that the issue was entirely electrical (backed up by several medicines not helping at all).

There were no issues with the angiogram and my leads, since both of mine were anchored inside my heart and not up in any surface arteries.  A few weeks ago, I had my pacer upgraded to a biventricular, with the third lead "resting" on the outer surface of my heart in an artery.  I imagine that this could make future angiograms more complicated.

I have not had a single MRI since I got my first pacer.  I've been told that getting one would be extraordinarily dangerous - it's not just that the magnetic fields could interfere with the pacer's operation, but that the fields are powerful enough to actually move or damage the leads and the generator itself.  I've seen conflicting information about this.