The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has agreed to review its policy of not paying for MRI scans performed as part of research studies of patients with pacemakers.
The request to reconsider the current restriction comes from Louis Jacques, MD, director of the cardiac MRI program at Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, CA.
Current CMS policy does not cover payment for an MRI examination for patients with cardiac pacemakers, although the statute does not specifically mention implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD).
Jacques' letter asks CMS to provide an exception for patients with cardiac devices who undergo MRI when a clinically indicated MRI is performed as part of a prospective clinical trial designed to determine the risk of the procedure, and when the study is conducted after an investigational device exemption (IDE) approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the proposed research.
Related Reading
FDA warns of pacemaker, MRI issues, December 17, 2009
MRI OK for patients with newer implanted cardiac devices, November 25, 2007
MRI of cardiac devices OK, but requires following strict guidelines, January 30, 2007
Radiologists should discuss cardiac implant disposal with patients, January 1, 2007
High-field MRI of the brain safely acquired in pacemaker patients, December 15, 2006
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