Drs Venkat D Nagarajan, consultant, Cardiac Electrophysiologist and Dr Jamshed Dalal, director of of Cardiac Sciences at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital and Medical Research Institute, Mumbai have successfully implanted a cardiac resynchronization device – the Biotronik Lumax ProMRI CRT-D in a 67-year old male patient, that allows the patient to undergo MRI scans for other medical conditions.

Heart failure patients suffer from decreased pumping of blood from the heart (low ejection fraction, e.g. EF < 35 per cent) and are at high risk of developing life-threatening unstable heart beats (arrhythmias) such as ventricular tachycardia (VT) and ventricular fibrillation (VF). This can lead to sudden cardiac death if not managed in time.

According to the doctors, to avoid sudden cardiac death patients' are implanted with a Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Device (CRT-D) with a defibrillation (DC shock) function.

“It is very important for patients to have access to MRI - the ‘gold standard’ for soft tissue imaging and critical for the diagnosis of conditions such as cancer and strokes,” commented Dr Venkat D Nagarajan. “Patients with standard cardiac assist or rescue devices (CRTs) are currently denied MRI access due to the adverse effects of electromagnetic fields produced by the MRI but 50–75% of them will require an MR scan during the lifetime of their device.”

A CRT device is essentially a cardiac pacemaker which consists of a battery-powered generator implanted in the upper chest and leads or special wires that connect it to the patient’s heart. These special wires along with the device, help to revive and make the heart beat in a coordinated (synchronized) manner. The synchronized contraction will improve and maintain pumping of blood from the heart. As soon as a life-threatening heart rhythm like VT or VF is detected, the CRT will automatically try to correct it by anti-high heart rate pacing, cardioversion or defibrillation.

CRT devices are definitely advantageous for the heart, but at the same time they can hindercertain tests. Biotronik Medical Devices, the world’s leading German cardiovascular medical device company, has introduced ProMRI technology which allows its implanted patients to undergo MRI scans for other medical conditions such as cancer and strokes.

“BIOTRONIK’s ProMRI technology is groundbreaking,” informed Dr Nagarajan. “Physicians now have the opportunity to implant an advanced, high quality device that manages life-threatening unstable heart rhythms, and also allows the use of 1.5 Tesla MRI to diagnose serious co-health issues.”