Calculating integral values of the cardiac magnetic field is more sensitive to repolarization abnormalities than conducting electrocardiograms

Patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) are at high risk for sudden death. The purpose of our study was to investigate ventricular repolarization abnormalities in CHF patients. We hypothesized that the total vector decreases as disparity increases, and we calculated integral values of the cardiac magnetic field as vector markers. Methods: Ten normal control subjects and ten patients with CHF were studied by using 12-lead electrocardiograms (ECGs) and magnetocardiograms (MCGs). We calculated integral values of MCGs during QRS and JT intervals (QRSi, JTi). We compared ECG parameters(QRS, JT) and MCG parameters between the two groups. Results: There was a significant difference in JTi (the control group > CHF patients), but not in QRS, JT, and QRSi between the two groups. In conclusion, MCGs distinguished ventricular repolarization abnormalities from ventricular activation abnormalities which could not be detected in at-rest ECGs.