title: Resting magnetocardiography predicts 3-year mortality in patients presenting with acute chest pain without ST segment elevation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Magnetocardiography (MCG) as a noninvasive, noncontact and risk-free diagnostic method predicts ischemic coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients with acute chest pain at admission with high accuracy. However, it remains unclear whether MCG findings can add prognostic information.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cohort of 402 consecutive patients presenting at the intensive care unit (ICU) with acute chest pain without ST segment elevation (NSTEMI) were included in a prospective registry. In order to prove the prognostic value of MCG a head-to-head comparison of the admission MCG, ECG, TnI, and ECHO tests was made.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In 43 patients (10.7%) the MCG could not be analyzed due to insufficient signal-to-noise ratio. Complete follow-up over a period of up to 3 years was obtained in 355 out of the 359 patients (98.9%). Age at admission was 67.2 +/- 10.3 years, 59.7% males. In the group of patients with an abnormal MCG at admission, 43 out of 249 patients (17.3%) died in the follow-up period, while in the group of patients with a normal MCG at admission only 4 out of 106 patients died (3.77%). The relative risk was 4.58 (95% confidence intervals: 1.68-12.42). A multivariate regression analysis revealed the highest mortality risk for patients with diabetes mellitus and an abnormal MCG at admission (RR = 18.0; 95% CI: 2.49-133.3).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Resting MCG at hospital admission predicts 3-year mortality in patients presenting with acute chest pain without ST segment elevation in the ECG. MCG seems to be valuable in identifying chest pain patients at highest risk.
authors.affiliation: Cardiology/Angiology Division, Hoyerswerda Hospital, Hoyerswerda, Germany. jai-wunpark@t-online.de
authors.forename: Jai-Wun
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Leithäuser
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.forename: Friedrich
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jung
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002423:Cause of Death; D002637:Chest Pain / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality*; D004562:Electrocardiography; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D053798:Magnetocardiography / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012042:Registries; D012146:Rest; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors