Influence of MRI-Conditional Cardiac Pacemakers on Quality and Interpretability of Images Acquired in 1.5-T Cardiac MRI

Purpose: The influence of MRI-conditional cardiac pacemakers on the quality and interpretability of images acquired in cardiac MRI (CMR) examinations was retrospectively investigated. Materials and methods: The subjects in this study were 12 patients (7 men and 5 women, mean age: 68.4 ± 8.7 years) with MRI-conditional cardiac pacemakers who underwent CMR examinations at our institution between July 2013 and December 2014. Two readers graded the quality of the acquired cine images, fat-suppressed black blood T2-weighted images, and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) images. The extent of the artifacts caused by the implantable pulse generator (IPG) and the size of the artifacts caused by the leads were also measured. Results: All CMR examinations were performed safely. Image quality and interpretability were acceptable for the analysis of cardiac function and the evaluation of myocardial edema, scarring, and fibrosis, although deterioration of uniformity within the lumens due to magnetic field in homogeneity, artifacts from the leads (particularly those covering the left ventricular septal wall), and artifacts from the IPGs (particularly those covering the left ventricular anterior wall) were observed. Conclusion: CMR can be performed safely in patients with MRIconditional cardiac pacemakers, and images of sufficient quality for the assessment of cardiac anatomy and function can be obtained.