Went to see my new neurologist this past week and I hear the strangest most unfamiliar thing.....he tells me I can't have an MRI based upon the type of coiling used on my rupture. One of the struggles that I have is with my short term memory and I am pretty sure I have had one since my surgery...He tells me the Neurosurgeon here who gave me the Angio has it marked in his notes no MRI's ever.......I am baffled!!!!
=} dee
Darcy,
You should definitely check with the doctor who put the coils in as to whether you can have an MRI. I didn't have coiling, I had a PED stent. But I was given a card that I need to carry with me at all times that explains the PED and details it's MRI compatibility.
Best wishes,
Linda
HI Darcy...I am having the same problem...Neurosurgeon says "yes" to MRI...but places that do MRI want information (mfg of coils, etc.,), and my neurosurgeon says he can't provide that information...I have been confused on this issue since I have been coiled...I am suppose to have an adenoma on my adrenal gland checked with MRI and I have yet to do it because I don't have trust in any of these people...
Darcy,
Quite likely you have titanium coils. In theory, titanium is more immune to torque movement by magnetic fields such as that generated by MRI's. There is now evolving discussion in the medical and metal sciences which indicates titanium can become more magnetized by magnetic fields over a period of time. That is why there is so much confusion as to who said what, when, and how.
Movement by the coils could expose the sealed aneurysm to increased chance for a new rupture or leakage. I would recommend that you follow the Neurosurgeon advice. For added comfort and safety, MRI technicians and Radiologist won't sign off on scan unless they are sure you are good to go.
Darcy...do you have stent implants?
Were you given a "card-to-carry" that covers the coils / stents ...supposedy, those cards-to-carry are for any of us to have for continued quality safe care...
If it is marked on any notes...it highly suggests you should have been provided a card-to-carry...Call him, his office, and ask...
Pat
Correction on the titanium coils - platinum coils are used in the majority of surgeries. I am not aware that platinum has been associated with questions of potential magnetization. As Pat suggests, having the ID card is very important.
How about me Pat...I was told there is no card...and Neurosurgeon wrote letter I am compatiable, but no one will accept...it has become the most frustrating thing for me...and now I am totally petrified of any MRI's...
After my coiling and stenting on October 24, my neuro said I could have anything - in fact I had an MRA or MRI before I left the hospital (I don't know which one, just remember that my head was put into a cylinder and my doctor was there and said everything looked good - he did tell me beforehand they were doing it, but I was still pretty morphined up).
I am planning on getting all the records from him when I go back after my angiogram in February. You might ask for your records from your neurosurgeon. Sometimes doctors can be so confusing. My neurosurgeon is the one who will be doing all the followup care on me.
Darcy, my aneurysm was clipped and my neuro surgeon told me that it is MRI compatible and that I can have these tests done in the future. He added that his office constantly gets calls to confirm this fact for people being scheduled for MRI's - I suppose it might be the same for the coils. I believe my clips were titanium. I was not given any kind of card.
Colleen...
Somewhere in your "records" (I qualified "off-record" a/w/a "off-label")...should be a " device implant " record by label/tag...For any implanted, there should be a "patient labeling" (a/k/a patient brochure/info guide) which the FDA website should ref. The patient brochure likely will ref the "card-to-carry." Supposedly, those pt info guides are for patients to read /ask questions/ research, before making their "decisions" and signing consent forms.
To go to FDA site, browse the numbers: 1) H020002 (2002 - BSCI) Neuroform2 stent to be used w/coiling of a wide-neck aneurysm... the data on FDA site for this one is incomplete / confusing (unless it has been corrected past few months); 2) H050001 (2005 - BSCI) Wingspan stent; somewhat recently (6-12 months? ) some study w/this one was stopped; it was geared at using w/or after angioplasty and I cannot remember this particular stopped study; 3) H060001 (Codman...a subsidiary of another major corp) but which has an easier to read/comprehend pt brochure; 4) P100018 ( 2011 - Pipeline) which has been so addressed on this site this past year and is FDA approved for ICAs.
There is so much more I want to write to you and this exhausts my brain waves...is that low-tide? Hope you will review the FDA site and secure your records... continue to ask your neuros.
When I acquainted w/a neurolgoist in 2008, her first was ordering an MRI...I told her what little I knew of stent implant and she dropped the MRI... I had no card-to-carry...nor letter from the other neuro re: stent status. Likely, because the stents are "off-record" a/w/a the "one of record" which is "off-label" w/no IRB data; even tho it is "of record" it is incomplete/inaccurate.
Hugs and prayers to gt your data, to get your questions answered / explained.
Pat
I too am under the impression Platinum not Titanium is the most currently used metal coil and although it is compatable with all the MRI/MRA scanners and is seen as safe, paltinum coils show as a mass so some surgeons do not see this as accurate enough reading so advise against it.
hope this helps
Gaynor
Gaynor
Hi Pat....I did get copies of my Coiling and NICU stay about 1 month ago...and I felt there were 2 sets of records the one's they "candy~coated" gave to me and another set somewhere in the abiss of Hospital Bureaucracy...I am going to re~read the area about coils and the site you suggested...and try to figure out "if really MRI is safe for me or not"...this is even a problem with getting Medical bracelet...also, I just got the mail and my mom sent me an article about MRI's and I hope I can share that information with you...
I always respect what you write to me...for some reason I always feel you have "our backs"...
Cyber ~ hugs and prayers to you too...Colleen
Colleen, I can't believe your doctor won't give you the records on what type of coil it is. By law, medical records are ours and should be released to us if we ask. The only exception would be the law they put into effect several years ago that any records your doctor has from other doctors cannot be given out to anyone (privacy law), these can only be released by the prescribing doctor who wrote them.
Sherri
Sherri I signed for them and finally got them mailed to me...it does have the type of coil...but confusing about the MRI compatiability, the surgeon using working such as "should be,"..."covering the butt" basically...I don't trust it... now that is Shands "University of Florida"...but when I go to local place for MRI they will not do it based on the information...I really need my adenoma looked at, so I am going to check if there is another way...but I do need to once and for all put this entire situation about MRI's to bed...I am so confused ... and getting conflicting info from Doctors, that I am now so petrified to have one done (which wasn't a problem before all of this) that I most likely can't have one done...without a panic attack...
Florida is used to dealing with old people...and they do what they want to people...and donot expect anyone to question them either way...sad, but true...I am glad my parents live in the Northeast ... they get very good care...
Colleen...a group of us have shared records... we redacted names for privacy...we have also determined the quality of the authoring technique meets the team procedural technique. Keep smiling on the opinion of the non-degreed / non -licensed...
Remind me later to describe/explain my ability / recovery to file five+ years of back income taxes...may be a couple of chapters or a sequel... I have been absolutely blessed by quality of care @ Social Security and IRS...pray that some day we will see their levels revamping other sources/resources. Please give us the name of the MRI article from your mom...we can always find it on the 'net... (I know old-fashioned searching)
Remind me someday to tell you about my tiny, frail, elderly auntie's first (and only) MRI and, the first I ever learned about one. My sisters would not have MRI's to be checked for potential genetic aneurysms after my ruptures.
UPS just delivered Kim Justus's book In a Flash...
Hugs,
Pat
Hi DEE,
Check with the neurosurgeon directley even if you did'nt get a card. I was given a hardware sheet to show to other doctors and the emergency room exactly what was used on me. My clip is titanium but my screws and plates are not. Go to the neurosurgeon first. It is also posted in your surgical notes and you can request them directly from the hospital. I too believe that I also had some type of MRI 1 year after my surgery I know that I have a cd with 3d images of my brain and the brain stem 172 images to be exact .It shows all my hardware placement. However I cannot have MRI so there must be a different machine they use.
Enis,
A CT Scan is a safer substitute when MRI's are in doubt. CT's are not as useful but still helpful in the absence of any other types of scans.
my aneurysm was coiled in november and i'm supposed to have an MRI every year. he said the material used in coiling is safe for MRIs.
/I had a coil used on 9/18/11. I've had several CT scans since. In order to have a MRI the machine has to be compatable to use with the coils. Not all of them are.