Mortality After Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain in Patients With Cardiovascular Implantable Devices.

BACKGROUND

Use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain is restricted in patients with cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CIEDs). We proposed to determine whether mortality difference exists for patients with non-MRI-conditional CIEDs undergoing brain MRI compared with controls.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data was performed to compare all-cause mortality in patients with CIEDs undergoing brain MRI (CIED-MRI) with 3 control groups matched for age, sex, imaging year, and type of CIED: (1) no CIED, brain MRI (no-CIED-MRI); (2) CIED, brain computerized tomography (CT) scan (CIED-CT); and (3) no CIED, brain CT (no-CIED-CT). The primary outcome was a significant difference (<0.05) between estimated mortality rates. Secondary outcomes were changes in device function before and after brain MRI. The estimated all-cause mortality at 5 years for the CIED-MRI group [mean age (±SD), 68.2 years (15.3 years); 61.2% men] was not significantly different from patients who underwent CT with or without a device (CIED-CT group: hazard ratio, 0.814; 95% confidence interval, 0.593-1.117; =0.2; no-CIED-CT group: hazard ratio, 1.149; 95% confidence interval, 0.818-1.613; =0.4). There was a significant increase in mortality between CIED-MRI and no-CIED-MRI groups (hazard ratio, 1.463; 95% confidence interval, 1.019-2.099; =0.04).

CONCLUSIONS

Brain MRI in patients with CIEDs does not carry an increased mortality risk compared with brain CT and can be performed with adherence to appropriate procedural protocols.