Qualitative and quantitative description of myocardial ischemia by means of magnetocardiography.

In the framework of this study quantitative parameters are presented which, derived from magnetocardiographic maps, aid in making a conclusion about ischemia in the myocardium. The analysis is based on the examination of 86 patients with unstable angina, of which 53 exhibited myocardial ischemia with high probability (Group I: angiographically proven stenosis of at least 50% in a coronary artery of first or second order and positive troponin), while in the 33 other patients myocardial ischemia could be ruled out with high probability (Group II: angiographically clean coronary bed and normal troponin values). The negative predictive value (the probability that there is no myocardial ischemia when the magnetocardiogram (MCG) is negative) is 96.2%; the positive predictive value (the probability that there is actually coronary heart disease when the magnetocardiogram is positive) is 91.2%. A 12-lead ECG taken at the same time as the MCG achieved a positive predictive value of 92.8%, but a negative predictive value of 53.4%. Consequently, the boundary values of the parameters selected lead to a markedly distinct separation between patients with myocardial ischemia from those without. For ruling out coronary heart disease in patients with unstable angina the MCG is superior to 12-lead ECG.