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PubMed1988

Biochemical markers in multiple myeloma: a multivariate analysis.

The analysis of individual biochemical and clinical variables in 121 patients with multiple myeloma showed that serum beta 2-microglobulin (S-beta 2m) had the most significant relation to survival. Other variables such as serum thymidine kinase (S-TK), serum lactate dehydrogenase (S-LDH), S-creatinine, haemoglobin (Hb), ESR, S-albumin, age and clinical stage were also significant. No such relationship was found with M-component, presence of light chains in urine, type of secreted immunoglobulin or S-calcium. The exclusion of clinical stage in the first multivariate analysis resulted in a model consisting of S-beta 2m, age and S-TK, none of the other variables gave additional information. When in the second multivariate analysis the basic variables involved in staging procedure were excluded and clinical stage included, stage III, but not stage II, was found to give additional information to the model described above. Individual analysis of the variables showed that Hb had the most significant relation to effect of initial therapy. Other significant variables were S-TK, S-beta 2m and age. When using the multivariate approach, Hb alone was found to contain all the relevant information.

Adult↗

PubMed1987

Multivariate analysis of antibiograms for typing Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

A method for typing Pseudomonas aeruginosa using antibiotic susceptibility patterns is presented, which allows recognition of clusters of the same strain among clinical isolates from different patients, thus indicating whether cross infection has occurred. An index of similarity (the euclidean or the oblique distance), which includes all the differences of disk zone sizes among isolates, is computed and then elaborated by a clustering algorithm that successively groups all the isolates in larger clusters. The results of clustering are presented as dendrograms, whose terminal branches are pruned down to a level below which differences are casual; isolates that still appear on a common branch are considered identical. The reliability of this technique for detecting nosocomial cross infections was assessed by comparing its results with that of serotyping and pyocin typing. Only 2 of 31 (6.4%) clusters detected by multivariate analysis were not confirmed, while 4 of 33 (12.1%) clusters were recognized by serotyping and pyocin typing, but not by multivariate analysis. In at least two instances the differences in susceptibility patterns were due to cytoplasmic R factors. The routine use of antibiogram data for typing purposes should be considered an essential part of nosocomial infection control.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

PubMed1984

Multivariate analysis of factors affecting postoperative survival in malignant astrocytoma. Importance of DNA quantification.

Fifty-eight patients with supratentorial malignant astrocytoma were analyzed statistically to evaluate the factors most important for predicting postoperative survival. Clinical information such as age, sex, duration of preoperative symptom, Karnofsky score at admission and at discharge, location of tumor, amount of tumor removal, number of operations, and postoperative survival in months, together with data on radiation and chemotherapy were analyzed by chi square test, t-test, and multivariate analysis. Cytofluorometric DNA quantification using paraffin embedded specimens was also performed in 20 cases and these data were also evaluated. Multiple correlation coefficient, and therefore the total statistical accuracy, increased to 0.824 when data of DNA quantification, percentages of S phase cells and of polyploid cells, were included. Multivariate analysis revealed that 6 items were the major factors for predicting postoperative survival, i.e. the location of tumor, the Karnofsky score at discharge, the percentage of S phase cells, the number of operations, the percentage of polyploid cells, and the amount of tumor removed. Based on this analysis, the estimated survival time could be expressed as a formula.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Clinical determinants of survival in patients with 5-fluorouracil-based treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer: results of a multivariate analysis of 3825 patients.

BACKGROUND: Patients with metastatic colorectal cancer are usually offered systemic chemotherapy as palliative treatment. A multivariate analysis was performed in order to identify predictors and their constellation that allow a valid prediction of the outcome in patients treated with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-based therapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 3825 patients treated with 5-FU within 19 prospective randomised and three phase II trials were separated into learning (n = 2549) and validation (n = 1276) samples. Data were analysed by tree analysis using the recursive partition and amalgamation method (RECPAM). A predictor could only enter the RECPAM analysis if the number of patients with missing values was < 33.3% within a node, and the minimal node size was set to 50 patients. Twenty-three potential predictors were grouped into subsets of laboratory variables (11 parameters), tumour-related variables (seven parameters) and clinical variables (five parameters). In the first step, tree analysis was performed separately for each predictor subset. The selected prognostic parameters of the resulting partial models (the 'winners') were entered into the general model. The classification rule from the data of the learning set was applied to the independent validation set. RESULTS: Winners of the subgroup analysis for laboratory variables were: platelets > or = 400 x 10(9)/l, alkaline phosphatase > or = 300 U/l, white blood cell (WBC) count > or = 10 x 10(9)/l and haemoglobin < 11 x 10(9)/l, and all predicted a worse outcome. Negative predictors within the subgroup of tumour parameters were: number of tumour sites more than one or more than two, presence of liver metastases or peritoneal carcinomatosis, which predicted a worse outcome. Furthermore, presence of lung metastases, a primary rectal cancer and presence of lymph node metastases all predicted a better outcome in the multivariate setting. Among the clinical parameters only performance status of ECOG 0 or 1 predicted better outcome. In the final regression tree, three risk groups could be identified: low risk group (n = 1111) with a median survival of 15 months for patients with ECOG 0/1 and only one tumour site; intermediate risk group (n = 904) with a median survival of 10.7 months for patients with ECOG 0/1 and more than one tumour site and alkaline phosphatase < 300 U/l or patients with ECOG > 1, WBC count < 10 x 10(9)/l and only one tumour site; high risk group (n = 534) with a median survival of 6.1 months for patients with ECOG 0/1 and more than one tumour site and alkaline phosphatase of > or = 300 U/l or patients with ECOG > 1 and more than one tumour site or WBC count > 10 x 10(9)/l. The median survival times for the good, intermediate and high risk groups in the validation sample were 14.7, 10.5 and 6.4 months, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Patients can be divided into at least three risk groups depending on the four baseline clinical parameters: performance status, WBC count, alkaline phosphatase and number of metastatic sites. Any molecular or biological marker should be validated against these clinical parameters and decisions for more or less intensive treatments may be studied separately in these three risk groups. Also, clinical trials should be stratified according to the three risk groups.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗

PubMed2002

Disease-free survival difference between African Americans and whites after radical prostatectomy for local prostate cancer: a multivariable analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Age-adjusted mortality rates (per 100,000) for men with prostate cancer from 1991 through 1997 reported by the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results national registry have consistently demonstrated that African-American men (AAM) have twice the death rate of white men (WM). However, there has been considerable controversy as to how this relates to progression-free survival among these men. In an attempt to address this controversy of localized prostate cancer, we report on a multivariable analysis of survival data of a large number of AAM and WM who underwent radical prostatectomy. METHODS: The study cohort was composed of 791 men whose only prostate cancer treatment was radical prostatectomy performed between July 1990 and December 1999. The variables analyzed were age, preoperative prostate-specific antigen level, pathologic grade and stage, and race/ethnicity. Pathologic examination of all specimens was performed in a uniform manner according to an established protocol. Multivariable analysis based on Cox's proportional hazards regression model was performed to assess whether a significant difference in progression-free survival time between AAM and WM persisted after controlling for the main effects of other prognostic factors. RESULTS: The study cohort consisted of 229 AAM and 562 WM. Our results indicated that all variables, except age, had highly significant effects on progression-free survival, even in the presence of other predictors. CONCLUSIONS: The effects of age, preoperative serum prostate-specific antigen level, and pathologic grade and stage did not account for the racial disparity in progression-free survival among men diagnosed with clinically localized prostate cancer and treated with radical prostatectomy.

Black or African American↗

PubMed2002

Multivariate analysis of the morphometric characteristics of tumours as prognostic factors in the survival of patients with uterine cervix cancer treated with radical surgery.

OBJECTIVES: To analyse the influence of tumour size and anatomopathological characteristics in the prognosis of patients with early-stage cancer of the uterine cervix treated with radical surgery. STUDY DESIGN: A historical study of 114 patients treated at the Maternity Hospital "La Fe" in Valencia was undertaken during the period 1971-1989. The influence of the principal risk factors on prognosis were studied and their effect adjusted using a multivariate analysis based on the Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: A greater dimension of the tumour, tumour area, tumour volume, tumour-cervix quotient and stromal invasion depth all have a highly significant and negative correlation with survival and disease-free survival intervals. In the multivariate analysis, tumour volume and stromal invasion depth maintained their significance as indicators of an adverse prognosis regarding the disease-free survival interval, as did the stromal invasion depth in the case of survival. CONCLUSIONS: The most important prognostic factor in the evolution of patients with a cervical carcinoma is the stromal invasion depth followed by tumour size.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Hypertension during pregnancy in South Australia, part 2: risk factors for adverse maternal and/or perinatal outcome - results of multivariable analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To identify factors associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes among women with hypertension during pregnancy. DESIGN: A population-based retrospective multivariable analysis using the South Australian perinatal data collection. METHODS: Perinatal data on 70,386 singleton births in 1998-2001 were used in multivariable analyses on three groups: all women combined, all hypertensive women and women with pregnancy hypertension only, in order to identify independent risk factors for requirement for level II/III care, preterm birth, small for gestational age (SGA) birth and maternal length of stay greater than 7 days. RESULTS: The risks for the four morbidities were all increased among women with hypertension compared with normotensive women. Those with pre-existing hypertension had the lowest risk (with odds ratios (OR) 1.26-2.90). Pregnancy hypertension held the intermediate position (OR 1.52-5.70), while superimposed pre-eclampsia was associated with the highest risk (OR 2.00-8.75). Among women with hypertension, Aboriginality, older maternal age, nulliparity and pre-existing or gestational diabetes increased the risk for level II/III nursery care, preterm birth and prolonged hospital stay. Smokers had shorter stays, which may be related to their decreased risk of having a Caesarean section or operative vaginal delivery. Asian women, Aboriginal women, smokers and unemployed women had an increased risk for having an SGA baby, while women with pre-existing or gestational diabetes had a reduced risk. CONCLUSIONS: Among hypertensive pregnant women, nulliparity, older maternal age, Aboriginality, unemployment and diabetes are independent risk factors for one or more major adverse pregnancy outcomes. Smoking does not always worsen the outcome for hypertensive women except for SGA births.

Adult↗

PubMed1988

An interactive multivariate analysis of FCM data.

The procedure and results of the interactive multivariate analysis of FCM data are described. Using principal-components analysis, cluster analysis, and interactive maneuvers, this procedure facilitates an effective data compression from a four-dimensional space into two-dimensional space, then allows cluster separation. The procedure is especially effective for separating clusters, which are degenerated in the usual scattergrams. Programs were mostly written in C language on MS-DOS and were tested on four-dimensional analysis of the blood cells, which resulted in a successful separation of the degenerated clusters.

Cell Separation↗

PubMed2006

Geographic classification of spanish and Australian tempranillo red wines by visible and near-infrared spectroscopy combined with multivariate analysis.

Visible (vis) and near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy combined with multivariate analysis was used to classify the geographical origin of commercial Tempranillo wines from Australia and Spain. Wines (n = 63) were scanned in the vis and NIR regions (400-2500 nm) in a monochromator instrument in transmission. Principal component analysis (PCA), discriminant partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) based on PCA scores were used to classify Tempranillo wines according to their geographical origin. Full cross-validation (leave-one-out) was used as validation method when PCA and LDA classification models were developed. PLS-DA models correctly classified 100% and 84.7% of the Australian and Spanish Tempranillo wine samples, respectively. LDA calibration models correctly classified 72% of the Australian wines and 85% of the Spanish wines. These results demonstrate the potential use of vis and NIR spectroscopy, combined with chemometrics as a rapid method to classify Tempranillo wines accordingly to their geographical origin.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed1981

Congenital malformations and maternal occupation in Finland: multivariate analysis.

The Finnish Register of Congenital Malformations was used in a multivariate analysis to explore the associations between maternal occupation in industry and children born with central nervous system (CNS) or musculoskeletal or oral cleft malformations. Possible confounding factors were selected in preliminary screening of risk indicators for malformations. These factors included characteristics of the mother, the child, and the family; maternal illnesses; an maternal medication at the time of pregnancy. Tobacco smoking was a confounding factor for all type of malformations; number of children born to the mother, maternal age, malformations in the family, number of rooms occupied by the family, sex of the child, threatened abortion, and continuous medication of the mother during the first trimester confounded the association for certain type of malformations. After adjusting for confounding factors, maternal occupation in industrial trades significantly correlated with CNS, oral cleft, and musculoskeletal malformation in the offspring. Maternal occupation in industry and construction only was significantly associated with CNS malformations in the offspring but the associations with oral cleft and musculoskeletal malformations were not significant.

Adult↗

PubMed1989

Multivariate analysis of factors influencing the results of restorative proctocolectomy.

Univariate and multivariate analysis has been used to assess the influence of 14 variables on the results of 65 consecutive ileoanal pouch procedures over 5 years. There were 9 failures requiring intubation, ileosomy or pouch excision. There was a significant association between failure and pelvic sepsis (p less than 0.05; n = 8), endoanal mucosectomy (p less than 0.05; n = 7), preservation of a long rectal cuff (p less than 0.05; n = 5) and lack of experience with the operation (p less than 0.05; n = 8). Of 49 patients with preoperative evidence of ulcerative colitis, 3 are now known to have Crohn's disease. The only factor having a significant adverse influence on complications was endoanal mucosectomy (p less than 0.01). Functional outcome was significantly impaired in patients who developed pelvic sepsis (p less than 0.001), a post-operative fistula (p less than 0.05) and who had an endoanal mucosectomy (p less than 0.05). Success with ileo-anal pouch reconstruction increases with experience. Avoidance of sepsis is associated with a lower failure rate, improved functional results and reduced hospital stay. Preliminary colectomy is also advised to exclude Crohn's disease if the diagnosis is in question.

Adult↗

PubMed1995

Small cell lung cancer with and without superior vena cava syndrome: a multivariate analysis of prognostic factors in 408 cases.

PURPOSE: Patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and superior vena cava syndrome (SVCS) are widely believed to have a grave prognosis. The purpose of this study was to determine the prognosis of patients with SCLC and SVCS as compared to SCLC without SVCS. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A retrospective analysis of 408 cases of SCLC +/- SVCS was performed. Three- hundred and sixty showed no clinical signs of SVCS and 43 (11%) had SVCS; in 5 patients no adequate information was available about clinical signs of SVCS. All patients were classified as limited disease cases. About 98% received chemotherapy usually as the first treatment followed by radiotherapy. A median total dose of 46 Gy (range 30 to 70 Gy) was given at 2.0 Gy per fraction five times weekly. A prophylactic cranial irradiation was applied if a complete remission was achieved after chemotherapy or after 30 Gy of irradiation. Kaplan-Meier survival curves are shown and comparisons were made by the log-rank and the Gehan/Wilcoxon test. To adjust for prognostic factors, a proportional hazards analysis was done. RESULTS: Patients without SVCS had 5-year survival rates ( +/- SE) and a median survival time (MST; 95% confidence intervals) of 11% +/- 2% and 13.7 months (12.7-14.5) in UICC Stage I to III; in Stage III the figures were 9% +/- 2% and 12.6 months (11.2-13.7). In comparison, SCLC with SVCS had 5-year survival rates of 15% +/- 7% and MST of 16.1 months (13.8-20.5). The difference was significant in univariate analysis (Stage II disease: p = 0.008 by the log-rank test). In a multivariate analysis of all patients, Stage (Stage I + II > III; p = 0.0003), SVCS (yes > no; p = 0.005), and Karnofsky performance status ( < or = 70 < 80-100%; p = 0.008) were of significant importance. CONCLUSIONS: SVCS is a favorable prognostic sign in SCLC. The treatment should be curatively intended.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Multivariate analysis of refractive data: mathematics and statistics of spherocylinders.

PURPOSE: To develop methods for multivariate statistical analysis of spherocylinders and to use these methods to compare autorefraction and manifest subjective refraction in 50 healthy eyes. SETTING: Department of Ophthalmology, Arhus University Hospital, Arhus, Denmark. METHODS: A method was developed to transform a spherocylinder to a suitable format as a spherical equivalent power (SEP) and 2 polar values, separated by an arch of 45 degrees, a so-called power-vector format. The accuracy of autorefraction was defined as the difference between autorefraction and manifest refraction, using the described power vector. These entities were subjected to multivariate analysis using the Hotelling T2 test. A method of graphic analysis was developed, using matrix algebra and computation of eigenvectors and eigenvalues. RESULTS: For individual data, the variation was considerably larger for the SEP than for the astigmatism. For aggregate data, univariate, bivariate, and trivariate statistical analysis did not demonstrate significant average differences between the 2 refraction methods. No refractive components and no combinations of refractive components displayed significant mean differences. CONCLUSIONS: The study confirmed our clinical experience that the astigmatism derived from autorefraction is nearly identical to manifest refraction, while the sphere needs some adjustment. In groups of healthy eyes, autorefraction can be used as a substitute for manifest refraction. Statistical analysis of spherocylinders, including evaluation of refractive procedures, can be performed in an exact manner with multivariate statistics.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

Multivariate analysis of cardiovascular reflexes applied to the diagnosis of autonomic neuropathy.

A battery of cardiovascular reflex tests is usually performed for the diagnosis of autonomic neuropathy. The tests discriminate well between normal and definitely abnormal autonomic function. However, in some patients the results are borderline and their autonomic status cannot be better defined. We performed multivariate statistical analysis of six cardiovascular autonomic tests with the aim of increasing their diagnostic efficiency. Eighty-five healthy subjects and 95 patients at risk for autonomic neuropathy were studied. Principal component analysis and two pattern recognition methods, the Bayesian technique and the SIMCA method, were applied. It was found that: (1) normal models obtained by Bayesian analysis showed very high specificity and sensitivity; (2) a battery of two tests for parasympathetic function (R-R interval variation test, deep breathing) and two tests for sympathetic function (blood pressure responses to standing and to sustained handgrip) provide an appropriate diagnostic approach, if multivariate analysis is used; (3) multivariate analysis allows a more precisely defined assessment of autonomic nervous system function in so-called borderline patients.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Prognostic factors and long term outcome after surgery for hilar cholangiocarcinoma. Univariate and multivariate analysis].

Aim of the study was to evaluate the surgical strategy for the treatment of the hilar cholangiocarcinoma, focusing on the clinicopathological factors influencing the outcome. Between January 2001 and December 2003 23 patients out of 33 underwent surgery for hilar cholangiocarcinoma. All patients underwent resection of the extrahepatic biliary duct. This was the only treatment in patients with Bismuth-Corlette type I cholangiocarcinoma, or in patients not suitable for hepatic resection. In the other cases, resection of extrahepatic bile duct was associated to right or left hepatectomy. The univariate and multivariate analysis evaluated multiple clinicopathological factors in order to assess long term survival. Major hepatic resection was carried out in 19 (82%) patients. Hepatic resection extended to the segment 4 was performed in 5 patients. Also, left hepatectomy was carried out in 14 patients, while resection of the caudate lobe in 7 (30%) patients. No hospital mortality was recorded, while the overall morbidity was 43%. The 1 year survival rate was 63.2%, and the median survival rate 19 months. Recurrencies showed up in 12 patients (52%). Among the other factors, low level of albumin (p = 0.006), positive resection margins (p = 0.003) and T (p = 0.02) mostly affected the long term survival. Surgery is the gold standard for achieving curative treatment of hilar cholangiocarcinoma. The bile duct resection, along with hepatic resection, the best option to increase long term survival of these patients. The univariate and multivariate analysis showed that low albumin levels, positive resection margins and T are the most important factors influencing long term survival.

Bile Duct Neoplasms↗

PubMed1995

A multivariate analysis of clinical and pathological factors that predict for prostate specific antigen failure after radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer.

A Cox regression multivariate analysis was done to determine the clinical and pathological indicators that predict for prostate specific antigen (PSA) failure in 347 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy for clinically localized prostate cancer between 1989 and 1993. In the patient subgroups (PSA less than 20 ng./ml. and biopsy Gleason sum 5 to 7 or PSA more than 10 to 20 ng./ml. and biopsy Gleason sum 2 to 4) not classifiable into those at high and low risk for postoperative PSA failure using PSA and biopsy Gleason sum, the status of the seminal vesicles and prostatic capsule on endo-rectal coil magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) allowed for this categorization. Specifically, 2-year actuarial PSA failure rates were 84% versus 23% in patients with and without seminal vesicle invasion, respectively, on MRI (p < 0.0001) and 58% versus 21% in those with and without extracapsular extension, respectively (p = 0.0001). In patients with extracapsular extension but without pathological involvement of the seminal vesicle(s) or poorly differentiated tumors (pathological Gleason sum 8 to 10), the 2-year actuarial PSA failure rates were 50% (margin positive), 28% (margin negative with established extracapsular disease) and 9% (margin negative with focal microscopic extracapsular disease). Therefore, endo-rectal coil MRI showing seminal vesicle invasion or extracapsular extension when the PSA level is less than 20 ng./ml. and the biopsy Gleason sum is 5 to 7 or the PSA level is more than 10 but less than 20 ng./ml. and the biopsy Gleason sum is 2 to 4 predicted for PSA failure. In patients with extracapsular extension who had pathological Gleason sum less than 8 disease with uninvolved seminal vesicles, the margin status and extent of extracapsular disease predicted for PSA failure.

Actuarial Analysis↗

PubMed1998

Obvious peritumoral emboli: an elusive prognostic factor reappraised. Multivariate analysis of 1320 node-negative breast cancers.

This study was conducted to determine the prognostic influence of obvious peritumoral vascular emboli as prospectively determined by a simple routine slide examination in patients with operable node-negative breast cancer. Obvious peritumoral emboli (OPE) were defined by the presence of neoplastic emboli within unequivocal vascular lumina (including both lymphatic spaces and blood capillaries) in areas adjacent to but outside the margins of the carcinoma. OPE were assessed routinely on 5 microns thick haematoxylin and eosin-stained sections for each of 1320 primary operable node-negative breast cancers from 1975 to 1992 at our institution. OPE and other prognostic variables (tumour size, SBR grade, oestrogen and progesterone receptor status) were correlated to overall survival (OS) and metastasis-free interval (MFI) by means of univariate and multivariate analysis with a median follow-up of 103 months. OPE were found in 19.5% of tumours. In univariate analysis, OPE were related to tumour size (P = 6.3 x 10(-5)) and histologic grade (P = 4.9 x 10(-7)). Statistically significant correlations were found with OS (P = 4.6 x 10(-5)) and MFI (P = 6.4 x 10(-9)). Furthermore, in multivariate analysis, OPE was an independent prognostic variable, the most predictive factor for MFI (P = 7.7 x 10(-7)) before tumour size and grade, and was second after tumour grade for OS (P = 0.002). This study on a large unicentric series and with a long follow-up confirms the prognostic significance of vascular emboli in patients with operable node-negative breast carcinoma. Importantly, vascular emboli were found to be accurately detectable by a simple routine and non-time-consuming method. Therefore, such obvious vascular emboli should be considered as an important cost-effective, prognostic variable in patients with node-negative breast carcinoma.

Adult↗

PubMed1995

Myocardial technetium-99m sestamibi single-photon emission tomography as a prognostic tool in coronary artery disease: multivariate analysis in a long-term prospective study.

To date several studies have evaluated the accuracy of thallium-201 myocardial scan in risk stratification of coronary artery disease (CAD), while reports using technetium-99m methoxyisobutylisonitrile (MIBI), a tracer particularly suited to single-photon emission tomographic (SPET) imaging, are lacking. To rectify this omission, a prospective study was started in 1988 and at present 176 consecutive, and thus unselected, patients have been enrolled. All of them have been submitted to stress-rest MIBI SPET for the diagnosis or evaluation of CAD; 147 patients (121 males and 26 females, aged 53 +/- 9 years) have completed a surveillance period of at least 36 months following the scintigraphic study (range 36-60 months, mean 43). Sixty-one patients had a documented previous myocardial infarction. The mean pre-test likelihood of CAD was 44% in the patients without prior infarction. The main anamnestic, clinical, EKG and scintigraphic findings were evaluated and statistically correlated with the incidence of ensuing cardiac events using both univariate (chi-square test) and multivariate analysis (logistic regression model). Twenty-nine patients suffered from a cardiac event during the follow-up period (i.e. three cardiac deaths, six myocardial infarctions and 20 cases of unstable angina). Statistical multivariate analysis identified MIBI scan as the only highly significant and independent prognostic predictor [P = 0.006, relative risk (RR) = 17.62]. In detail, the most important scintigraphic parameters were the presence of a reversible defect (P = 0.0089, RR = 5.11) and the extension of the stress perfusion defect (P = 0.0255, RR = 3.27). The presence of typical angina proved to be a slightly significant predictor (P = 0.051, RR = 2.45), while no other examined parameter showed a significant correlation with a bad prognosis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Angina, Unstable↗