My MRI and what I have learned! part 1
 

Have you ever watched Tom and Jerry cartoons?
Jerry...hits the cat in the head with the hammer, and then he torches his head...
well, my concussion was the hit in the head, and the MRI was putting fire to my head.
Not quite ...but..., let me explain.
After suffering from post concussion syndrome for six weeks, I went and saw a different neurologist. she ordered an MRI.
On the seventh week , I started feeling better.
I called the neurologist to ask if this test was necessary, since I was feeling better. Her response was that ,"MRI was not going to hurt you, it is up to you whether you take it or not,"
After doing some research on the internet I decided to sign up for an open MRI since it has lower radio frequency.

On the day of the scan, the facility was a bit behind schedule.
I went to the MRI room and the tech had me lie down on the bed. My first reaction was this is not an open MRI. The technician said,"yes, it is look, it is open on the sides," This MRI was like the regular tube with only the sides being open.

The scan started, and within a few seconds I felt excessive heat to the top of my head.( FYI, no I did not have any metals, or dye , or anything else)
The heat sensation became unbearable, it was as if there was an open flame on top of my head. I pressed the distress call, the little ball that you push...anyhow the technician told me to wait till the scan was over because he did not want to loose any data.
So here I am stuck in this machine feeling very uncomfortable.

Finally the technician stopped the machine, he asked me what had happened...I told him, he reacted by being angry...saying that he was not going to argue with what I felt and had not felt.The scan resumed again and I did not have any more problems.

When the scan was over I sat up and felt dazed. I figured it was from the stress of being stuck in the machine.

In the hallway, I met another patient. I was surprised that his scan was finished. He said, he never had his as their machine was broken and were sending patients across the street.

The next day, I called the facility to complain. I told them that their so called "open MRI", was not a "true open MRI", and complained about the excessive heat. They thought I was the patient from the night before...I had the scan done first thing in the morning.

Here are some of the things that I have learned from my MRI

1) you can complain to the facility...but that does not do any good. They will respond by saying it never happened/they did not have malfunction with their machine/you the patient had an anxiety attack

2. You can report it to your doctor. Mine was very nervous. She claimed she had not heard of this problems before. She did not want to get involve, but she would encourage me to make a complain against the facility.

3. The health department would like to help you...however this place is not part of hospital so it is out of their jurisdiction.

4. call board of medicine, you can make a complain against the physician in charge, but not against the facility.

5. finally I talk to an engineer who does research with MRI machines. I ask him was this a contact burn? His answer was, " what you experienced was not a contact burn. It was due to too much radio frequency. This is caused by either machine malfunction(hardware / software), or human error," I hope you are going to be o.k.

6. you can file a voluntary report with FDA medwatch. This can only be done on line. You will not be able to talk to a live person calling the numbers listed on the site.

7. so I go back to my very supportive doctor and say lets suppose I received too much radio frequency to my head...what are my long term health effect of this MRI? She responds by saying that that she did not know, the only way to know is to have another MRI.

This had been very frustrating to me, when things go wrong there is no one to give answers, or to be held accountable.This is part of the reason why I have been short with the people around me.

My MRI and what I have learned! part 2
 

So over the last few weeks I have learned that:

1. The MRI technician could have/should have responded to my distress call immediately.He should have stopped the scan right away instead he choose to finish the scan. In MRI time equals money. Each minute is about $20

I would hate the thought of someone being stuck in one of these machine unable to press the ball for help or suffering from a heart attack.

2. The technician should have checked me for contact burn afterwords. That never happened. (not even my neurologist bother to check me for contact burn, I saw her three days after this incident)

3. I talked to some people who know their MRI, and they do not think that my MRI was an open MRI even though this is what I signed up for.
Mine was tube like with openings at the sides.

So any suggestion where one would report problems:confused: with safety and false advertising???

I hope you don't mind that I merged these 2 threads together so what happened to you is easier to follow.
:grouphug:

I would contact the clinic or hospital that did the MRI to make a complaint.
Oh , I see you tried that already :(-
did you request to speak with /supervisor or management and file a written formal complaint {with copy for self}.

They need to find out if it was technician error or equipment error/malfunction.

You might need to search the facility / owners to go to the next level of complaint. If they don't follow up on your original complaint.

Better Business Bureau ? http://welcome.bbb.org/

here's a place where you can get an article about thermal MRI injuries.
http://www.clinicalradiologyonline.n...688-3/abstract

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...earch&aq=f&oq=

Hi, Yes, I have tried all of those things.
better business bureau is the first place that I have tried calling, they do not deal with medical facilities. They only handle things like if the facility charged you the wrong amount.

I have filed a complaint with the facility over the phone, and have send formal letter of suggestion by mail.

I did ask for explanation from the facility, and the lady in charge of the machine was very rude. She denied ever having any problem,and she laughed at me saying that I had an anxiety attack.


After calling some local politicians and having them urge the health department to call the facility...I received a letter from the president of the facility saying that they did not have malfunction with their machine.I guess that only leaves human error.

I do expect for them to say that they did have a problem as that is kind of shooting themselves in the foot.

I guess I will never know for sure whether what I experienced was contact burn or too much radio frequency.

There are some information on contact burn on the web, but that is not all that complete.

There are practically no information of effect of too much radio frequency on the body. FDA has limit for radio frequency.

It is normal for body to warm up a little bit by the radio frequency, too much heat that is not desirable or normal.

FYI, State of Pennsylvania is the only state that has mandatory reporting of all incidents under the ACT 13.

MRI Experience
 

I think that the MRI that I had approx 2 years ago is one of the worst experiences that I have had in my life. The operators (radiographers?) must have their own special rare breed of rudeness and arrogance.

I arrived on time for my appointment, waited an hour and was told the machine had broken down and wouldn't be much longer. At this time I was trying to work 5 hours per day. I knew work would be piling up in my office.

Eventually I was called in - 2and half hours after appt time, I was not told how loud the noises would be other than the fact that I would hear some noise and was asked if I was claustrophobic and I said yes. I was told not to worry as they could see me and if I looked in the little mirror a little way along the tube I would be able to see them and they would stop if I looked like I wasn't coping with it. Plus they would be able to hear me.

I was told that I could have a sedative (in a back handed unwilling way) and I asked if they thought I would need one and at that time said that I didn't really want to have the MRI. Was told that most people don't need one.

Well as soon as I went in I was horrified. It was tiny and I knew that if I wanted to get out on my own I couldn't. The noise was like a toture like my brain was being drilled off and on. 45 minutes of it - with the odd pause in between.

When I was brought out I was told to go and get dressed. I didn't realise at the time that I had tears dripping off my chin and was incredibly pale and wanted to vomit, (until I saw myself in the changing room mirror) needless to say nobody asked me if I was ok, how was I getting home NOTHING.

Fortunately I had my mobile phone with me and rang my husband to come and get me - there was no way I could go back to work, let along drive home. As the insurer was who wanted me to have my MRI (not my GP) my husband told them a few facts etc but no response. After all the insurer is hoping I have "some other illness/disease" than TBI.

If this happens again I will definitely ask to be sedated. This was a private facility too - not part of the public health system.

Seems that non matter what part of the world we are in somethings just don't change.

Lynlee

Hi Lynlee, It is funny that you mention about tearing...my left eye was tearing like crazy also.It is not on the list of things to expect but then not all things get reported.

In the U.S. we have mandatory reporting of serious injury/death and machine malfunction. (From what I have read not all these get reported )
The so called other incidents are voluntary reporting...things like human error and near misses.Most MRI incidents are caused by human error and not by machine malfunction.
In my opinion all MRI incidents needs to be reported to have a clear picture of the number of incidents , and how to prevent catastrophic incidents.

Do you have any kind of reporting system where you are???
I understand most countries do not.

I just had a thought...maybe the reason the technician did not check me for any burns was because he knew that what I was experiencing was due to too much radio frequency. That is certainly a possibility.Or... maybe finding a blister would mean the facility could not deny having problems.

I wanted to add a quick note saying that the whole point of writing about this experience is not to deter those who are in need of MRI.
In each case the benefit of a procedure should outweigh the risks.

Too true - I am sure that 99% MRI are fine - just make sure you are sedated first.

Seiko I haven't reported my unpleasant MRI to anybody aside from the insurer who insisted that I had it. Also told my GP to make sure that he tells anybody who needs one with a head injury to be prepared for very very loud noise - instead of being like me thinking that I was going to be going back to work afterwards. After all C/Ts are noise and pain free.

Lynlee

Hi Lynlee:
Here is an interesting data:
"in a poll of 105 organizations participating in a dial in seminar organized by a non profit health service research firm(ECRI) in September found nearly 60 percent have had MRI "incidents" including projectiles, burns, interference with implants. Most such incidents are not reported to food and drug administration, because reporting is voluntary and varies.(nuclear medicine news NOV 13, 2005)

We really do not clear picture of incidents in regard to MRI as they do not all get reported.
It is so important to report all incidents.

I did extensive research on what to expect from my MRI before the procedure, so the noise was expected.

I would like to know if there are any laws out there which says when a patient press the distress call... respond to them immediately???

Well, I called our state health department, and there are no set laws in regard to response time and patients distress call.
The MRI facility that I went to was did not part of the hospital, so it was up to the facility's discretion what safety measures they implement.

(I called my state health department and there are no set laws in regard to response time for patients distress call, the MRI facility that I went to operates like a doctor's office so they are self regulated)

same as above

ct scan
 

hi

one CT scan is equal to 3 years background radiation but if we need to have them done what other options do we have

I have yet to find a single article on..
 

I have yet to find a single article on the effect of too much radio frequency on the body.

If radio frequency is so safe why does FDA has limits on it?

and if it is not, why do incidents of overexposure are still happening??

What is being done to prevent human error?

Covering incidents by lack of information is no longer acceptable.

Hi vini, I think it is safe to say that most of us are aware of effect of too much radiation on the body.But how many of us are aware of effect of too much radio frequency on the body?? ......

I've had many mri's
 

Hi seiko,

Sorry to hear that you had such a scary incident with MRI. I've had so many MRI's, I can't even count them - seriously! More than 7 brain MRI's, and 2 back MRI's. I haven't *ever* had an experience like that.

The MRI machines are typically a big tube, like a straw. You must have been given a poor description of what an open MRI machine is like. No machine is just a big bed, without sides. They all have sides to get a more clear picture of the anatomy. I think it's pretty amazing that they could get imaging of your brain without a top above you!

Anyway, onto the burning sensation. You are told to lie completely still, to get a clear image. As you lay there, the sides of the machine move back and forth, rotates, click and "wah-wah" away. Perhaps the MRI machine without the top has a different way of getting the image of the top. I don't know.

Just thought I'd share my knowledge & experience - hope it makes you feel a teeny bit better. Maybe not.
Hugs 2u,
Shez

Hi Shez, the MRI was supposed to be an open MRI. I looked like a closed MRI except the sides were open.I still went through the tube. This was not a "true open MRI".
I talked to some people who said that this MRI was not an open MRI. I asked them so if it is not open what was it? He said it was a regular MRI , and false advertising.

I received an email from a lady a few weeks ago...she had the same experience as I did. She also tried making a complain to the facility and the doctor, but they all made her feel that it was her problem.

I am glad that you did not have any incidents, and yes it was very traumatic being stuck in the machine with the heat sensation and unresponsive technician.Here is some more data:

Pennsylvania is the only state that requires mandatory reporting of all MRI incidents (under Pennsylvania Act 13 of 2003). "Over a 10 year period the FDA cataloged a total of 389 incidents in MRI facilities across the US (an average rate of less than one incident per state per year). Contrast this with the data from the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority which, over just a 16-month period, tallied 88 MRI incidents from those facilities which are subject to mandatory state reporting".