The value of magnetocardiography in the course of coronary intervention.

<bold>Background: </bold>The noninvasive detection of restenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remains a clinical challenge. Previous studies have shown that magnetocardiograms reveal obvious changes in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and normal electrocardiogram (ECG) at rest.<bold>Hypothesis: </bold>The present study aimed to evaluate the potential of magnetocardiography (MCG) for the detection of electrophysiological changes in the course of successful PCI.<bold>Methods: </bold>Twelve-lead ECG and unshielded four-channel MCG (SQUID AG, Essen, Germany) were registered at nine prethoracic sites in 50 patients with CAD (62 +/- 10 years; EF = 76 +/- 11%; registration: before, 24 hours, and 1 month (n = 25) after PCI) and 57 normals (51 +/- 9 years). Current density vector (CDV) maps were reconstructed within the ST-T interval and classified from category 0 (normal) to category 4 (grossly abnormal). In both groups and at all registration times, the percentage of each category of maps was calculated and compared.<bold>Results: </bold>Most CDV maps of normals were classified as category 0, 1, or 2 compared to CAD patients before PCI with most maps of category 3 and 4 (P < 0.0005). Twenty-four hours after PCI, more maps were classified as category 2 (P < 0.05) and less as category 4 (P < 0.005). One month after PCI the MCG results further improved: more maps were classified as category 1 (P < 0.05) and 2 (P < 0.005) and less maps as category 4 (P < 0.0001). The ECG remained unchanged in the course of PCI.<bold>Conclusion: </bold>Unshielded four-channel MCG reveals obvious changes in the course of successful PCI on the basis of CDV map reconstruction during repolarization. The method seems to be suitable for the follow-up of patients after PCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]