Most are MRI compaitble. Refer to the card, as the others have said, but take this for comfort, from a recent post:
There's not much available that's more magnetic than a Magnetic Resonance Imaging device. An initial part of its activity is to expose you to a magnetic field strong enough to force the axes of all the hydrogen atoms in your body to align to magnetic poles at your head and feet. And hydrogen atoms are not all that magnetic. No one is allowed to wear metal in the MRI room, as metallic objects can become injurious darts when the field is on.
An MRI test was done of different models of most of the major heart valve brands and models, including Sorin, St. Jude, ATS, even the Bjork-Shileys, as well as tissue valves like the Medtronics Hancock, other Medtronics tissue valves, a bovine tissue valve (not Edwards), and the Toronto SPV.
From the Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging12:363?369 (2000)
http://www.imrser.org/PDF/Shellock.HeartValves.JMRI.pdf Prosthetic Heart Valves: Evaluation of Magnetic Field Interactions, Heating, and Artifacts at 1.5 T Maria-Benedicta Edwards, MPhil,1 Kenneth M. Taylor, FRCS,1 and Frank G. Shellock, PhD2
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
MRI safety was determined for 32 different heart valve prostheses using ex vivo test procedures in association with a 1.5-T MR system. All prosthetic heart valves were tested for magnetic field interactions, heating, and artifacts. The data revealed only minor magnetic field interactions with temperature changes that were substantially below that known to pose a hazard to human subjects. Artifacts were characterized as mild to severe in size. Based on this information, these heart valve prostheses should not present a hazard with respect to movement or dislodgement in MRI environments of 1.5 T or less. Additionally, RF energy-induced heating associated with a whole-body averaged SAR of 1.1 W/kg will not pose a risk to a patient with one of these heart valve prostheses. Accordingly, these heart valve prostheses should be considered ?MR safe? according to the specific conditions used for testing.
(Note: "artifact" only means an item's image that shows up on the scan, nothing harmful. Remember also, this refers only to valves, not pacemakers or other equipment.)
Best wishes,
