title: The long-term prognostic value of the Q wave criteria for prior myocardial infarction recommended in the universal definition of myocardial infarction.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We sought to characterize the prognostic value of the third universal definition of myocardial infarction (UDMI) and ≥40msec Q wave criteria.
  
  
  METHODS
  We evaluated hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for cardiovascular (CV) death for computerized Q wave measurements from the electrocardiograms of 43,661 patients collected from 1987 to 1999 at the Palo Alto VA. There were 3929 (9.0%) CV deaths over a mean follow-up of 7.6 (±3.8) years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The risk of CV death for Q waves ≥40msec in any two contiguous leads in any lead group was equivalent to or higher than that for contiguous UDMI Q waves, with HR 2.44 (95% CI 2.15-4.11) and HR 2.42 (95% CI (2.18-3.42), respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The UDMI Q wave criteria do not provide an advantage over ≥40msec Q waves at predicting CV death.
authors.affiliation: Stanford University School of Medicine, 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford, CA USA; Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, 3801 Miranda Avenue, Palo Alto, CA USA. Electronic address: aperino@stanford.edu.
authors.forename: Alexander C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Perino
authors.affiliation: Stanford University School of Medicine, 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford, CA USA; Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, 3801 Miranda Avenue, Palo Alto, CA USA.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soofi
authors.affiliation: University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, 155 Biomedical Education Building, Buffalo, NY USA.
authors.forename: Nikhil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Stanford University School of Medicine, 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford, CA USA; Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, 3801 Miranda Avenue, Palo Alto, CA USA.
authors.forename: Sonya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aggarwal
authors.affiliation: Stanford University School of Medicine, 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford, CA USA; Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, 3801 Miranda Avenue, Palo Alto, CA USA.
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Froelicher
mesh_terms: D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality*; D015995:Prevalence; D011379:Prognosis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D015996:Survival Rate; D009626:Terminology as Topic
keywords: Cardiovascular death; Electrocardiography; Myocardial infarction