Electrocardiographic chest wall mapping in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease

Chest wall mapping of ST segment changes, inverted U waves, and Q waves using 16 electrocardiographic electrodes was performed at rest and during and after bicycle ergometry in 150 patients presenting with chest pain suggestive of angina. All patients underwent coronary angiography. The presence or absence of appreciable coronary artery disease (≥ 50% stenosis) was detected with a sensitivity of 98% and a specificity of 88%. The identification of lesions in individual coronary arteries was also possible with a sensitivity and specificity of 87% and 85% respectively for the territory of the left anterior descending and diagonal artery, 71% and 85% respectively for the right coronary artery, and 85% and 80% respectively for the circumflex artery. This test appears to be a reliable non-invasive screening method for selecting patients for angiography.