Magnetocardiographic patterns in complicated and uncomplicated pregnancies

Magnetocardiographic (MCG) patterns, produced by the electrical activity of the heart, were investigated in 38 full term pregnant women (17 pre-eclamptic and 21 with uncomplicated pregnancies), by means of a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). The most important difference was noted in the waveform amplitudes of the MCG recordings; these were appreciably lower in women with pre-eclampsia compared to those in the normal control series, although in both groups the emitted magnetic fields ranged at approximately the same frequency band. Electrocardiographic (ECG) QRS complexes were represented clearly only in the low MCG waveform amplitudes, and these were related to the presence of widespread obliterative endarteritis in the fetal vasculature of the placentae. The above MCG findings are consistent with an increased contractibility of the myocardium in pregnant women with hypertensive disease secondary to the increased peripheral resistance.