Don't just report the means! A new CHF study found cardiac MIBG washout rate effectively stratifies patients as low or high risk for sudden death. But just stating the group means and SDs doesn't help guide patient management. Better to provide useful reference values like the 33.5% crossover point and odds ratios at key washout rates. This allows physicians to make informed decisions based on an individual's test results. Rates between 30-36% are uninformative. ≤27% indicates >2:1 odds of low risk. ≥40% indicates >2:1 odds of high risk. Reporting data smartly empowers personalized medicine.
Citation: Heston TF, Wahl RL (2009). Clinical Significance of Iodine-123 Metaiodobenzylguanidine Cardiac Imaging. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2009;54(6):575-576. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2009.02.082