Ruth Pulikottil-Jacob1, Gaurav Suri1, Martin Connock1, Ngianga-Bakwin Kandala1, Paul Sutcliffe1, Hendramoorthy Maheswaran1, Nicholas R Banner2, Aileen Clarke3. 1. Division of Health Sciences, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry. 2. Heart Failure Care Group, Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, London, and Institute of Cardiovascular Medicine and Science, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College, London, and Clinical Effectiveness Unit, Royal College of Surgeons of London. 3. Division of Health Sciences, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry. Electronic address: aileen.clarke@warwick.ac.uk.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Patients with advanced heart failure may receive a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) as part of a bridge-to-transplant (BTT) strategy. The United Kingdom National Health Service (UK NHS) has financed a BTT program in which the predominant LVADs used have been the HeartMate II (HM II; Thoratec, Pleasanton, CA) and HeartWare (HW; HeartWare International, Inc. Framingham, MA). We aimed to compare the cost-effectiveness of the use of these within the NHS program. METHODS: Individual patient data from the UK NHS Blood and Transplant Data Base were analyzed with Kaplan-Meier and competing outcomes methodologies. Outcomes were time to death, time to heart transplant (HT), and cumulative incidences of HT, death on LVAD support, and LVAD explantation. A semi-Markov multistate economic model was built to assess cost-effectiveness. The perspective was from the NHS, discount rates were 3.5%. Outcomes were quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and incremental cost (2011 prices in GB£) per QALY (ICER) for HW vs HM II. RESULTS: Survival was better with HW support than with HM II. Cumulative incidence of HT was low for both groups (11% at ~2 years). HW patients accrued 4.99 lifetime QALYs costing £258,913 ($410,970), HM II patients accrued 3.84 QALYs costing £231,871 ($368,048); deterministic and probabilistic ICERs for HW vs HM II were £23,530 ($37,349) and £20,799 ($33,014), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Patients In the UK BTT program who received the HW LVAD had a better clinical outcome than those who received the HM II, and the HW was more cost-effective. This result needs to be reassessed in a randomized controlled trial comparing the 2 devices. Crown
BACKGROUND: Patients with advanced heart failure may receive a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) as part of a bridge-to-transplant (BTT) strategy. The United Kingdom National Health Service (UK NHS) has financed a BTT program in which the predominant LVADs used have been the HeartMate II (HM II; Thoratec, Pleasanton, CA) and HeartWare (HW; HeartWare International, Inc. Framingham, MA). We aimed to compare the cost-effectiveness of the use of these within the NHS program. METHODS: Individual patient data from the UK NHS Blood and Transplant Data Base were analyzed with Kaplan-Meier and competing outcomes methodologies. Outcomes were time to death, time to heart transplant (HT), and cumulative incidences of HT, death on LVAD support, and LVAD explantation. A semi-Markov multistate economic model was built to assess cost-effectiveness. The perspective was from the NHS, discount rates were 3.5%. Outcomes were quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and incremental cost (2011 prices in GB£) per QALY (ICER) for HW vs HM II. RESULTS: Survival was better with HW support than with HM II. Cumulative incidence of HT was low for both groups (11% at ~2 years). HW patients accrued 4.99 lifetime QALYs costing £258,913 ($410,970), HM II patients accrued 3.84 QALYs costing £231,871 ($368,048); deterministic and probabilistic ICERs for HW vs HM II were £23,530 ($37,349) and £20,799 ($33,014), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Patients In the UK BTT program who received the HW LVAD had a better clinical outcome than those who received the HM II, and the HW was more cost-effective. This result needs to be reassessed in a randomized controlled trial comparing the 2 devices. Crown
Authors: Regina Kwon; Larry A Allen; Laura D Scherer; Jocelyn S Thompson; Madiha F Abdel-Maksoud; Colleen K McIlvennan; Daniel D Matlock Journal: Med Decis Making Date: 2018-07 Impact factor: 2.583
Authors: Bart S Ferket; Jonathan M Oxman; Alexander Iribarne; Annetine C Gelijns; Alan J Moskowitz Journal: J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg Date: 2017-11-15 Impact factor: 5.209