MRI and a 35 years old herington rod?

[VNA]

My very dear wife needs an MRI to find out if her cancer treatment is beneficial, unfortunately her Herington rod is over 35 years old and we are not sure if it is compatible with an MRI? anyone know by any chance? Is stainless steel magnetic? Thank you.

[LindaRacine]

Hi...

Your wife's Harrington rod will not cause any problem with the MRI with the exception of causing distortion on the film in the area around the rod. You can see a discussion on the topic here:

http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/showthread.php?t=2247

Hope the treatment has been successful!

Regards,
Linda

[mocity]

I would be sure and check with the hospital. I have had my rods since 1989 and have been having some pain. I went in for a MRI and they could not do one and I ended up having a catscan. They said the older ones need to be done by catscan. Please double check before she has an MRI. Good luck.

[LindaRacine]

Mocity...

They may have had to do a CT scan because the metal was in the way of what they needed to image, but it's perfectly safe to have an MRI with Harrington rods.

--Linda

[mocity]

Ok. However, I was told it was because of what the harrington rods were made of at the time I had my surgery. They said because of that I could not have an MRI and instead had a catscan. Possibly because of insurance reasons? Not sure. This was done at Methodist Hospital here in Houston in the Medical Center.

[LindaRacine]

Harrington rods were made of surgical stainless steel, the same metal that many of the rods in use today are made of. I'm guessing that you just came across a tech who didn't know.

--Linda