MRI may cause skin burns to patients wearing patches

New York, March 7: The Food and Drug Administration has warned people of risks of being burnt during an MRIdefine if they have been using certain transdermal patches.

The FDA cautions the radiologists to check the patients for these patches before recommending them for an MRIdefine.

The medicated patches meant to be applied to the skin for increasing estrogen or nicotine patches might contain aluminum or other metals which may conduct electricity and cause overheat during an MRI scan.

Thus, the immediate area around the patch can get seriously burnt when exposed to MRI’s strong magnetic components.

More than 60 drug patches in the market for sale contain traces of aluminum or other metals, according to Dr. Sandra Kweder, the FDA's deputy drug director. “Some, but not all, of these patches contain a little bit of aluminum, just enough that the patch could overheat if worn during an M.R.I. scan,” Kweder added.

The FDA has discovered that most of these patches also do not include safety warning or MRI compatibility on their labels.

This negligence on the part of patch manufacturers came into light when FDA traced causes behind two recent incidents, in which a few patients suffered patch burns, non-severe though.

Teva Pharmaceuticals' fentanyl painkiller patch was one of the sources of those patch burns, and was found to be lacking the MRI warning.

FDA is now reviewing the labeling and composition of all the patches, thus making sure that the patches containing metal carry MRI warning on their labels. “Our proposal is to start with something like ‘Remove Before M.R.I.’” Dr. Kweder said.

FDA also alerts those who wear tattoos on their bodies of the burn risks from MRI, as certain tattoo inks might carry tiny metals which are electricity conductors.

Lately, many MRI-induced fatal accidents, which involved metal objects, have been reported. With advancing MRI technology, many unexplored hazards associated with it are also coming to the forefront.

“The dynamics of a magnetic field are simply not well known, and we discover things almost on a regular basis,” said Dr. Cynthia S. Sherry, a radiologist in Dallas and the president of Texas Radiological Society. “Sometimes we can explain them, and sometimes we can’t.”

On the other hand, drug-patches used for pain killing, or those containing Alzheimer's or Parkinson's drugs, or anti-nausea drug are gaining widespread popularity.

This should make it mandatory to impose MRI warning on these patches. Until then, patients and physicians both need to be cautious of the risks, urges FDA.