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Rodney H. Falk, MB, MRCP
Boston City Hospital Boston University School of Medicine

JAMA. 1986;255(18):2441-2442.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

The article by Berliner et al,¹ "Transcutaneous Temporary Pacing in the Operating Room," reaffirms the efficacy of this temporary. pacing mode. However, the authors reach misleading and erroneous conclusions based on incorrect use of statistics and errors in data analysis, the extent of which is remarkable.

The abstract of the article states that "threshold was influenced by electrode position and also, possibly, by age, heart size, and chest size." Yet the text clearly states that no statistically significant difference was found when heart size, transverse chest diameter, and age were examined as possible factors influencing threshold. Examination of each of these factors, based on the authors' data, reveals an error in each, as follows.

1. Heart size. Patients with thresholds equal to or less than 100 mamp had slightly larger mean cardiothoracic ratios (0.45 ± 0.07) than those with thresholds over 100 mamp (0.44 ± 0.06) . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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