[MRI in patients with a pacemaker or ICD requires expertise].

Nazarian et al. recently studied the safety of magnetic resonance imaging in a large cohort of patients with cardiac devices not considered to be MRI-conditional (termed a "legacy" device). More than 2100 thoracic and nonthoracic MRI examinations were performed in 1509 patients. It was found that with appropriate precautions, including a prespecified safety protocol, no long-term clinically significant adverse events occurred. It could easily be concluded from these observations that MRI can now be considered "safe" in this category of patients. Whether such a conclusion is justified, is questionable however. Although not life-threatening, interactions between MRI and devices still occur and clinical consequences remain unpredictable. It is therefore strongly recommended that MRI in patients with a legacy device should exclusively be performed in centres of excellence. Only in the presence of a multidisciplinary radiological and cardiac expert team can MRI be conducted with acceptable risks in patients with a legacy device.