[Clinical utility of spatial color mapping vectorcardiography in diagnosing myocardial infarction: comparison with 201Tl scintigraphy].

The feasibility of spatial color mapping vectorcardiography in diagnosing the site and extent of the old myocardial infarct was evaluated in comparison with 201T1 scintigraphy. Vectorcardiographic data made by Frank's technique were entered in the personal computer and the QRS complexes were plotted over 112 points crossing the latitude of each 20 (from 20N to 80S) degrees and longitude of each 20 degrees from 20W to 20E on the spherical body. Eight colors were assigned according to the direction of the QRS vector. To construct a territorial map, the apical, then, the septal, anterior, lateral, inferior and posterior portions were determined from the normal 201Tl scintigrams. Myocardial images obtained in the anterior, left anterior oblique and lateral projections were analyzed by the circumferential profile curve. Diagnostic specificity for infarction was greater than 60%, and especially high (90%) in the anterior, apical and lateral regions, but relatively low (50%) in the septal, inferior and posterior regions. Accuracies exceeded 64%. The infarcted areas assessed by spatial color vectorcardiography agreed with those assessed by 201T1 myocardial scintigraphy. Thus, spatial color vectorcardiography was simple and useful for diagnosing the site and extent of myocardial infarction.