Medical and Dental Procedures

Some medical and dental procedures may damage or affect your CRT device. Learn about these procedures below and be sure to tell your dentist and physicians that you have a CRT-D or CRT-P device so they can take necessary precautions.

The following medical and dental procedures can affect your implanted device and/or injure you. If you must have any of these procedures, be sure to talk with your heart doctor and the doctor performing the procedure about what can be done to protect you and your device.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

An MRI is a diagnostic test that uses a powerful magnet and radio waves to produce images of the human body. MRI scans can severely damage your implanted device or injure you and should not be performed. Your doctor must always confirm that both you and your implanted device are eligible and ready for an MRI in order for you to undergo this procedure.

Hospitals keep MRI equipment in rooms marked with signs that indicate magnets are inside. Do not go inside these rooms.

Diathermy

Diathermy should not be performed as it uses an electrical field to apply heat to tissues in the body and could damage your device or injure you.

Electrocautery

Electrocautery is used during surgical procedures to stop vessels from bleeding.

Electrolysis and Thermolysis

These dermatology or hair removal procedures pass electrical current into the skin. Talk with your heart doctor before having either of these treatments.

External Defibrillation

Typically used in medical emergencies, this procedure uses external equipment to deliver an electrical shock to your heart to restore a rapid and irregular heart rate to a normal rhythm. External defibrillation can affect your CRT device, but can still be performed if necessary. Be sure to contact your physician as soon as possible if you receive external defibrillation to verify that your device is functioning properly.

Lithotripsy

Used to break up stones in the urinary tract, such as kidney stones, lithotripsy can damage your CRT device if certain precautions are not taken. 

Therapeutic Radiation Treatment for Cancer 

This procedure for cancer can affect your device and will require special precautions. If you need radiation treatment, talk with your heart doctor and the doctor performing the procedure.

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) Unit 

This device prescribed by physicians or chiropractors to control chronic pain can affect your CRT device. 

Most medical and dental procedures will not affect your CRT device. Some examples include:

• Dental drills and cleaning equipment
• Diagnostic X-rays
• Diagnostic ultrasound procedures
• Mammograms
  NOTE: Mammograms will not interfere with your CRT-D or CRT-P. However, your device could be damaged if it gets compressed in the mammogram machine. Make sure the doctor or technician knows you have an implanted device.
• EKG machines
• CT scans

If you need to undergo any medical or surgical procedures, be sure to tell your dentist and/or doctor that you have an CRT device. They can contact the physician who monitors your device to find the best way to provide treatment.