: Pacemaker and MRI Is it safe for patients with pacemakers to have MRI? Although earlier it used to be said that patients with pacemakers should not have MRI, but apparently some recent data says it is not that dangerous (http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle

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Some new pacemakers are MRI compatible ([1]). Of those, some have an exclusion zone where the body may not be scanned. I wouldn't be surprised if, in a few years, all new pacemakers and ICDs will be MRI compatible. Older pacemakers still won't be, however. The following quote from [1], lists problems MRI fields may cause with pacemakers:

Heating at the lead tip and at the lead tissue interface
Force and torque on devices
Image distortion
Alteration of programming with potential damage to
the pacemaker circuitry
Rapid atrial pacing
Pacing at multiples of the radiofrequency pulse and
associated rapid ventricular pacing
Reed switch malfunction
Asynchronous pacing
Inhibition of pacing output
Induction of ventricular fibrillation
Electrical reset
Component damage
Death

To be certified as MRI compatible by the FDA, TÜV, etc., each pacemaker system (device and leads) must be tested for MRI compatibility by the manufacturer.

In the interest of full disclosure, I work for one of the one of the device manufacturers listed in the paper[1].