A May 10 article by MarketWatch reviews the potential hazards that exercise clothing such as yoga pants may pose for patients getting MRI scans.
The story reviews a number of incidents that have occurred in recent years due to exercise clothing being manufactured with metallic fibers that can heat quickly during scans. It cites warnings recently put in place by Stony Brook University and Mount Sinai in New York, as well as at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); UCLA, for example, has prohibited patients from wearing certain brands such as Lululemon, Athleta, and Columbia's Omni-Heat.
The article also mentions a 2012 case study published in the American Journal of Neuroradiology about an 11-year-old girl who underwent an MRI scan for scoliosis. She woke from sedation with a second-degree burn from her undershirt, which contained silver microfibers that were not discovered with a wand metal detector.
Patients should also avoid clothing with "antimicrobial" or "antibacterial" on the label because these items also contain metal, according to the article.
