Marc Blondon1, Gregoire Le Gal2, Guy Meyer3,4, Marc Righini1, Helia Robert-Ebadi1. 1. Division of Angiology and Haemostasis, Faculty of Medicine and Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland. 2. Department of Medicine, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, University of Ottawa, ON, Canada. 3. Department of Respiratory Disease, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, APHP, Paris, France. 4. Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: In patients with suspected pulmonary embolism (PE) and a non-high pretest probability, the use of an age-adjusted D-dimer cutoff (AADD, <500 ng/mL up to 50 years, then <age × 10 ng/mL) was shown to further reduce the need for computed tomography pulmonary angiography while safely ruling out PE. Our objective was to evaluate its cost-effectiveness. METHODS: We created a decision tree to compare the use of the AADD with the standard D-dimer cutoff. The model included short-term venous thromboembolism-related events and long-term complications, their associated morbidity/mortality, and costs. Probabilities were derived from published literature and the ADJUST-PE study, and costs from US estimates. The time horizon was lifetime, with a health care system perspective. RESULTS: Using the AADD cutoff, compared with the standard cutoff, was associated with a loss of 0.0001 quality-adjusted life-years (QALY) and an average cost reduction of $33.4. The decremental cost-effectiveness ratio (DCER) was +$282 881/lost QALY (95% confidence interval from +$43 209/lost QALY to a dominant strategy). The probability that the use of the AADD cutoff was either dominant or gained >$200 000/lost QALY was 79.4%. In sensitivity analyses, the DCER became <+$200 000/lost QALY only if, among patients with D-dimer below the AADD cutoff, the mortality of an undiagnosed PE was >6% or the prevalence of PE was >0.6%. CONCLUSIONS: The AADD cutoff results in a clinically nonsignificant decrease in QALY but important costs reductions. It is a decrementally cost-effective innovation, with a potential of cost savings of >$80 million per year for the United States health care system.
BACKGROUND: In patients with suspected pulmonary embolism (PE) and a non-high pretest probability, the use of an age-adjusted D-dimer cutoff (AADD, <500 ng/mL up to 50 years, then <age × 10 ng/mL) was shown to further reduce the need for computed tomography pulmonary angiography while safely ruling out PE. Our objective was to evaluate its cost-effectiveness. METHODS: We created a decision tree to compare the use of the AADD with the standard D-dimer cutoff. The model included short-term venous thromboembolism-related events and long-term complications, their associated morbidity/mortality, and costs. Probabilities were derived from published literature and the ADJUST-PE study, and costs from US estimates. The time horizon was lifetime, with a health care system perspective. RESULTS: Using the AADD cutoff, compared with the standard cutoff, was associated with a loss of 0.0001 quality-adjusted life-years (QALY) and an average cost reduction of $33.4. The decremental cost-effectiveness ratio (DCER) was +$282 881/lost QALY (95% confidence interval from +$43 209/lost QALY to a dominant strategy). The probability that the use of the AADD cutoff was either dominant or gained >$200 000/lost QALY was 79.4%. In sensitivity analyses, the DCER became <+$200 000/lost QALY only if, among patients with D-dimer below the AADD cutoff, the mortality of an undiagnosed PE was >6% or the prevalence of PE was >0.6%. CONCLUSIONS: The AADD cutoff results in a clinically nonsignificant decrease in QALY but important costs reductions. It is a decrementally cost-effective innovation, with a potential of cost savings of >$80 million per year for the United States health care system.
Authors: Kenneth Iwuji; Hasan Almekdash; Kenneth M Nugent; Ebtesam Islam; Briget Hyde; Jonathan Kopel; Adaugo Opiegbe; Duke Appiah Journal: J Prim Care Community Health Date: 2021 Jan-Dec