Magnetocardiograms Early Detection of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Using Inverse Problem Analysis in Rat Model

Utilizing small animal magnetocardiograms (MCG), we have developed a diagnostic method to detect the development of pulmonary hypertension (PH) in a rat heart. We obtained multiple MCG of rats with monocrotaline-induced PH and monitored the development of pathophysiological conditions. Current dipole estimation was then applied to determine the association between abnormal propagation of the cardiac excited wavefront and disease states. The progress of right ventricular hypertrophy correlated with a decrease in the angles of the current dipoles during R and S waves. In addition, clear changes in the current dipole angles during S waves were observed 9-19 days before the availability of echocardiographic diagnosis of the PH. Our results showed, using a rat PH model, that continuous monitoring of myocardial conditions allows PH to be detected at an earlier stage than echocardiographic screening.