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Have No Fear
Open MRIs reduce anxiety, claustrophobia
With his hands spread wide, Mehlville resident Larry Klevorn says he was so relaxed after seeing St. Anthony’s open MRI that he didn’t have to use the panic button during his imaging scan.
Larry Klevorn loves soccer. The 45-year-old Mehlville resident plays in two regional men’s soccer leagues at least twice a week and currently
coaches his 9-year-old twins’ soccer team. It was not surprising, then, that he suffered knee and back problems as he got older. Several years ago, Klevorn needed an MRI scan of his leg. “I didn’t like it, I’ll tell you that,” he says matter-of-factly. “So when I needed another MRI of my back recently because of numbness and tingling in my legs and back, I was a little nervous about the enclosed space they’d put me in.”
But Klevorn came to the Medical Plaza Imaging Center where the advanced high-field Open MRI was available. “This one was unbelievable,” he says with a smile. “It was so open, I could spread my arms wide. I did just fine.”
In addition, the Open MRI has a “panic button,” enabling patients to immediately talk with a radiologic technologist. “I didn’t need it,” Klevorn said afterward. “That’s saying something because I know I’m claustrophobic.”
The Open MRI is ideal for patients anxious about enclosed spaces or for obese patients weighing up to 500 pounds. While a traditional bore, or tube, MRI is still used for some imaging scans, Open MRIs are increasingly popular with patients. Says Klevorn, “It’s just one less thing to worry about.”
For information, please call our Health Access Line at 314-ANTHONY (268-4669) or 800-554-9550
or visit find a physician online.
At St. Anthony’s, our vision is to be the area’s premier health care organization
— and your first choice for health care services.