An important advantage of the leadless pacemakers: magnetic resonance imaging compatibility

I have read with great interest the article entitled ‘State of the art of leadless pacing’ by Sperzel et al.¹ They presented a comprehensive review in regard to currently available leadless pacemaker systems. However, no information has been reported regarding magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) issues related to these devices. With inherent advantages of MRI including high tissue characterization, no radiation, and excellent spatial orientation, its use all over the world has exponentially increased. Therefore, more patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices have had MRI examinations. To overcome this important limitation, manufacturers have introduced implantable pacemakers and defibrillators compatible with MRI. Leadless pacing systems have important advantages to avoid limitations and complications seen with conventional pacemakers. Promising results from trials and ongoing technological advancements will lead to much more implantation of the leadless pacemakers in the near future. Thus, these systems should be compatible with MRI exams. Actually, fully implantable leadless pacing devices are inherently MRI compatible because they are small devices and have no lead in the cardiac chambers. In addition, the manufacturer has announced that the Micra^® Transcatheter Pacing System (Medtronic Inc.) is compatible with full body 1.5 and 3.0 T MRI scanning.

In conclusion, an additional and important advantage of the leadless pacemakers compared with conventional systems is MRI compatibility.

Conflict of interest: none declared.

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