Safety of magnetic resonance imaging in patients with surgically implanted permanent epicardial leads

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) safety in patients with an epicardial cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) is uncertain.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the safety and adverse effects of MRI in patients who had surgically implanted epicardial CIED.

Methods: Patients with surgically implanted CIEDs who underwent MRI with an appropriate cardiology-radiology collaborative protocol between January 2008 and January 2021 were prospectively studied in 2 clinical centers. All patients underwent close cardiac monitoring through MRI procedures. Outcomes were compared between the epicardial CIED group and the matched non-MRI-conditional transvenous CIED group.

Results: Twenty-nine consecutive patients with epicardial CIED (41.4% male; mean age 43 years) underwent 52 MRIs in 57 anatomic regions. Sixteen patients had a pacemaker, 9 had a cardiac defibrillator or cardiac resynchronization therapy-defibrillator, and 4 had no device generator. No significant adverse events occurred in the epicardial or transvenous CIED groups. Battery life, pacing, sensing thresholds, lead impedance, and cardiac biomarkers were not significantly changed, except 1 patient had a transient decrease in atrial lead sensing function.

Conclusion: MRI of CIEDs with epicardially implanted leads does not represent a greater risk than transvenous CIEDs when performed with a multidisciplinary collaborative protocol centered on patient safety.