Donald Trump’s MRI test results released by White House doctor
Getty ImagesUS President Donald Trump ‘remains in excellent general health’ after undergoing ‘complete medical examination’, according to his White House doctor.
Capt. Sean Barbabella released a memo Monday saying advanced imaging of the 79-year-old president’s heart and abdomen had returned “perfectly normal.”
He wrote that the president underwent an MRI during a physical in October “because men in his age group benefit from a thorough evaluation of their cardiovascular and abdominal health.”
The release comes as Democrats, including Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are pushing for the results of the analysis amid concerns about Trump’s age during his second term.
In his memo, Barbabella wrote that there was no evidence of arterial narrowing impairing blood flow or abnormalities in Trump’s heart or major vessels.
The doctor added that overall, Trump’s cardiovascular system “shows excellent health.”
Likewise, the doctor, a U.S. Navy emergency room doctor who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Trump’s abdominal imaging results showed that “everything that was evaluated is functioning within normal limits, with no acute or chronic problems.”
The doctor called the scan “standard” for an “executive medical exam” for someone Trump’s age.
The White House had previously refused to explain why Trump had an MRI during a physical exam in October or to say what part of his body was scanned.
On Sunday, aboard Air Force One, Trump told reporters he was “agreed with me” about releasing the MRI results.
When asked by a reporter what part of the body the MRI looked at, Trump said: “I have no idea. It was just an MRI – what part of the body? It wasn’t the brain, because I took a cognitive test and I passed.”
Trump underwent his annual physical exam in April.
In October, he said he underwent an MRI at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center during a visit that the White House said was part of his “routine annual checkup.”
Trump said at the time that the MRI “was perfect.”
In the memo, Barbabella said the purpose of the MRI was preventative, “to identify problems as early as possible, confirm one’s general health and ensure that one’s vitality and function are maintained in the long term.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt read Barbabella’s memo during a press briefing Monday.
“I think it requires a lot of detail in an effort to be transparent,” Leavitt said. “The president promised it last night and we delivered it today.”
Two outside doctors who reviewed the memo told the BBC that MRI scans were “generally not the standard” for preventive care.
But some people opt for tests that don’t meet standard age-based guidelines, says Dr. Carla Perissinotto, a geriatrics specialist at the University of California, San Francisco.
Similarly, Dr. Jeffrey A Linder, chief of general internal medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, says the note doesn’t specify whether an MRI or CT scan was performed, making it difficult to know exactly what was done.
Linder says routine anatomical imaging – whether MRI or CT scan – is generally not recommended in asymptomatic patients because the potential risks outweigh the benefits.
And even for executive medical exams — which are aimed at busy professionals and include a host of additional tests — he says it’s still rare for that imaging to come back “perfectly normal” without coronary calcification.
Trump has been seen with swollen ankles and bruises on his right hand and has been spotted dozing off during meetings.
In July, the White House announced that he had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a vein condition that can lead to swelling in the legs.
