Dr Theodore Chow, Principal Investigator of MASTER I trial, statement

Dr. Chow stated, "The recent MASTER and ALPHA Trials have helped to clarify the role of MTWA testing in current practice, and I am proud to have been part of this effort. These studies are consistent with the notion that MTWA testing identifies patients more or less likely to suffer "hard endpoints" (i.e. mortality) but is less able to discriminate which ICD treated patients will receive shocks. The discrepancy between mortality and ICD shock data may relate to the fact that many (possibly the majority) of ICD shocks are for ventricular arrhythmias that would not have proven lethal. It is important to view these trials through the lens of the substantial body of existing MTWA literature.

"I believe that MTWA testing in today's clinical practice can add value to the patient encounter. MTWA testing provides additional information about a patient's mortality risk profile that could influence the chosen therapy. While I firmly support evidenced based ICD therapy, I also believe that a good physician brings more to the clinical encounter than recollection of a treatment pathway--that doctoring is about treating the patient, not the ECHO. While MTWA testing may not influence the clinical decision every time, having more information about your patient's risk profile is frequently still better than having less when making an informed decision. By analogy, I do not necessarily need a CXR (chest x-ray) to know that my patient has pneumonia, but I order it because it provides me with a deeper understanding of my patient's condition. In those cases where more data about mortality risk helps make one a better doctor, I advocate MTWA testing."