Can magnetocardiography detect patients with non‐ST‐segment elevation myocardial infarction?

Abstract

Background and aim. Magnetocardiography (MCG) has been proposed as a noninvasive diagnostic tool to risk‐stratify patients with myocardial infarction (MI) and ischemia. The purpose of this study is to find the MCG parameters that are sensitive enough to detect the non‐ST‐segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) patients.

Methods. MCG data were recorded and analyzed from 165 young controls (mean age = 27.2±9.0 years), 57 age‐matched controls (mean age = 55.9±10.5 years) and 83 NSTEMI patients (mean age = 59.7±11.1 years). The MCG recordings were obtained using a 64‐channel MCG system in a magnetically shielded room. Statistical analyses were performed for 24 parameters derived from QRS‐, R‐, T‐wave, and ST‐T period. Binary boundaries to detect NSTEMI patients out of control subjects were found using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for each parameter.

Results. Fifteen parameters showed a significant difference (P<0.05 and P<0.01) between NSTEMI and both of the control groups. For detection of NSTEMI, the angle of the maximum current and the filed map angle on T‐wave peak showed the highest diagnostic performance from 75% to 92% including accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value (area under ROC curve = 0.87∼0.93).

Conclusions. Our study showed that MCG has potential clinical application for detection of NSTEMI and should be further investigated.