Scientists  investigated the use of nonthoracic MRI at 1.5 tesla in patients with an implanted non–MRI-conditional cardiac device (pacemaker or implantable cardioverter–defibrillator (ICD) that was “non–MRI-conditional”). No patient who was appropriately screened and had the cardiac device reprogrammed according to our protocol had device failure. Substantial changes in device settings were infrequent and did not result in clinical adverse events. At least half the patients with such devices are predicted to have a clinical indication for MRI during their lifetime, a specific protocol that has been  implemented for the study can be used to reduce the risk of patient harm from MRI effects.