Anne B. Curtis, M.D.

Senior Health Care: MRIs and Electronic Implantable Devices

More than 1.5 million Americans have pacemakers and more than 60 million MRIs are performed in the U.S. each year. Medical device manufacturers and physicians both advise against exposing patients with certain electronic implantable devices to MRI scans, which can disrupt a pacemaker's electronic system and burn heart tissue at the tip of the pacemaker lead. And, after age 65, a person’s chance of needing an MRI doubles, and 50-75% of patients with implantable devices will likely need an MRI over their device’s lifetime.

Dr. Anne Curtis, Chief of Cardiology at University of South Florida joins the show to educate seniors and their caregivers about potential risks associated with combining life-saving, high-end technologies such as medical imaging including MRIs and certain electronic implantable devices such as pacemakers.

Anne B. Curtis, M.D., FHRS, F.A.C.C., FAHA, Professor of Medicine, Chief, Division of Cardiology University of South Florida -

Dr. Curtis did her undergraduate training at Rutgers University in New Jersey and graduated from medical school at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. She completed her medical residency at Presbyterian Hospital in New York, and fellowships in cardiovascular diseases and clinical cardiac electrophysiology at Duke University Medical Center.

She established the electrophysiology program at the University of Florida in Gainesville in 1986 and was Director of Clinical Electrophysiology there until 2005. She is currently Chief of Cardiology and Director of Cardiovascular Services at the University of South Florida in Tampa.

She is actively involved in patient care, education of fellows and residents, and clinical research in electrophysiology and pacing. Her research career includes participation as a member of the steering committees for the Pac-a-Tach (Pacing and Atrial Tachycardia) and ABCD (Alternans Before Cardiac Defibrillator) trials, and her involvement in the AFFIRM, MIRACLE, SCD-HeFT, and COMPANION trials among others. She is currently the Principal Investigator of the Block HF trial.

On a national level, Dr. Curtis is prominently involved in a number of organizations. She is the Immediate Past President of the Heart Rhythm Society. She is currently chair of the Governance Committee, a member of the Board of Trustees and the Finance Committee and is the former chair of the Continuing Medical Education, Marketing, and Health Policy Committees.

Dr. Derrick DeSilva

2 / 25 / 2010