Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Patients With Hearing Implants - Follow-up on Prevalence and Complications

Objective: To examine the number of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations performed in patients with hearing implants and to quantify side effects or complications related to this procedure. Study Design: Questionnaire. Setting: Tertiary referral center, academic hospital. Patients: One thousand four hundred sixty-onepatients with an implanted hearing system. Intervention: Patients were asked to complete a questionnaire either during a visit to the clinic (304) or by mail contact (1,157) between February 2018 and March 2019. Main Outcome Measures: Number of examinations by means of MRI per patient and number of side effects or complications. Results: A total of 711 questionnaires were returned. After excluding nonvalid information on the questionnaire, 12.8% of patients were identified who had undergone an MRI after having received their hearing implant. Within this group of 91 patients, the most common precaution undertaken was a head bandage (69%). Side effects were mainly pain (37%), followed by anxiety (15%) and tinnitus (9%). The MRI had to be aborted in 14% and dislocation of the magnet occurred in 7% of examinations. Conclusions: Our data indicate that patients undergoing hearing implant surgery need better information about the limitations and requirements of MRI. The occurrence of side effects is likely as only half of the patients in our study group were completely free of symptoms. Dislocation of the implant magnet was observed in several cases, hence patients and physicians need to be educated about this potential complication.