A 78-year-old Blue Island man was the first in Chicago’s southland – and one of the first in Illinois — to receive a MRI-compatible pacemaker.  The pacemaker was implanted at MetroSouth Medical Center, a hospital known for its excellent cardiac care.

Robert Foust, the patient who had the FDA-approved implant, suffers from coronary artery disease and congestive heart failure.  He was having bradycardia, a heart arrhythmia condition that causes a slow heart rate.  Foust, who has undergone open heart surgery, also struggles with hip problems and other medical conditions.

Sean Tierney, M.D., cardiologist and electrophysiologist at MetroSouth Medical Center was the physician who implanted the pacemaker in Foust after encouraging him to be the first to try it.

“Mr. Foust was the perfect candidate for this procedure because he has a history of health problems that will require him to have future MRIs,” says Dr. Tierney. “This new pacemaker is perfect for patients over 65, who are twice as likely to need an MRI compared with a younger population.”

Until now, patients with pacemakers weren’t allowed to have MRIs because the magnetic field produces heat, causing the pacemakers to malfunction or induce arrhythmia.  The new Medtronic Revo MRI system is made out of nonmagnetic metal and has extra insulation on the leads – the wires that attach to the heart—that better absorbs the heat.

There are approximately 1.5 million Americans with pacemakers.  About 200,000 of them have to forego MRIs and often undergo more invasive and risky diagnostic procedures because they have pacemakers. 

“Before I got the pacemaker, my legs were hurting, my feet were really cold and I wasn’t sleeping through the night,” Foust admits.  “But after getting this new pacemaker, my feet are toasty warm, leg pain is better and I’m sleeping through the night.  I plan to keep on trucking for another 20 years.”

To view a annimated video provided by Medtronic, Inc., the manufacturer and distributor of the Revo MRI-compatable pacemaker, showing the placement of the pacemaker and a patient undergoing an MRI scan, click here http://www.blip.tv/file/4847313.

MSMC, which provides advanced cardiac interventional procedures and offers a state-of-the-art heart catheterization lab, is recognized for outstanding cardiac care. Thirty years ago, the hospital was among the first in the Chicago, and the nation, to offer angioplasty, a procedure used to unblock narrowed arteries.  Since that time, more than 15,000 angioplasties and more than 12,000 open heart surgeries have been performed at MSMC.

Watch a Blue Island TV segment of MetroSouth Medical Center Cardiologist, Dr. Sean Tierney as he talks about the new Revo Pacemaker by Medtronic.