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Abnormal prolonga- tion of the heart rate corrected QT (QTc) interval prolongation has been reported in patients with UAP, 3 but its association with adverse outcomes in these patients has not been investigated. However, QTc prolongation is frequently observed in patients with AMI 4–7 and is known to represent an established risk factor in post-AMI patients. 8 The present report assesses whether QTc-interval prolongation is an independent prognostic marker in patients with UAP. ••• We studied 102 patients (68 men, mean age 57  10 years, range 39 to 78) from a larger cohort of patients (n = 186) admitted to the Eva Pero ´n General Hospital, Buenos Aires, Argentina, between Septem- ber 1995 and May 2000 with UAP diagnosed on the basis of preestablished criteria. 9 Patients with at least one of the following were not included: post– AMI angina pectoris (n = 16), normal electrocar- diogram (ECG) on admission (n = 29), ECG with excessive noise and/or flat (0.05 mV) T-waves precluding QT-interval measurement (n = 12), se- rum potassium levels 3.5 mmol/ml (n = 3), use of antiarrhythmic drugs (n = 3), complete bundle branch block, Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, or atrial fibrillation (n = 3), evolving AMI as assessed by serum creatine kinase (greater than twice the normal limit) and its MB isoenzyme (5% normal limit; n = 4), and need for emergency interven- tional therapy (n = 14). All patients were in Braunwald 9 class II or IIIB and had diagnostic changes on the standard 12-lead ECG recorded during hospital admission (i.e., ST-segment depression [n = 26], T-wave inversion 0.2 mV [n = 54], transient ST-segment elevation [n = 9], symmet- ric and sharp positive T wave [n = 3] and negative T wave changing into positive [“pseudonormalization”; n = 10]). Patients were subdivided into 2 groups according to the presence (group A) or absence (group B) of clinical events (i.e., death, new AMI, or newly estab- lished indication for emergency percutaneous translu- minal coronary angioplasty or coronary artery bypass graft surgery during the coronary care unit stay and 30 days after hospital discharge). The consultant in charge who was blinded to the results of QTc mea- surements took clinical decisions regarding patient management. Group A comprised 62 patients with clinical events and group B 40 patients without clin- ical events during the follow-up period. No investiga- From the Service of Cardiology, Eva Pero ´ n Hospital, Buenos Aires, Argentina; and the Department of Cardiological Sciences, St. George’s Hospital Medical School, London, United Kingdom. Dr. Gadaleta’s address is: Service of Cardiology, Eva Pero ´ n Hospital, Balcarce 900 –(1650) San Martı ´n, Buenos Aires, Argentina. E-mail: fgadaleta@intramed.net.ar. Manuscript received November 16, 2002; revised manuscript received and accepted April 3, 2003. 203 ©2003 by Excerpta Medica, Inc. All rights reserved. 0002-9149/03/$–see front matter The American Journal of Cardiology Vol. 92 July 15, 2003 doi:10.1016/S0002-9149(03)00539-3