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The main objective of this study was to assess the long-term cost-effectiveness of five alternative diagnostic strategies for identification of severe carotid stenosis in recently symptomatic patients. A decision-analytical model with Markov transition states was constructed. Data sources included a prospective study involving 167 patients who had screening Doppler ultrasound (DUS), confirmatory contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CEMRA) and confirmatory digital subtraction angiography (DSA), individual patient data from the European Carotid Surgery Trial and other published clinical and cost data. A "selective" strategy, whereby all patients receive DUS and CEMRA (only proceeding to DSA if the CEMRA is positive and the DUS is negative), was most cost-effective. This was both the cheapest imaging and treatment strategy (35,205 dollars per patient) and yielded 6.1590 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), higher than three alternative imaging strategies. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis demonstrated that there was less than a 10% probability that imaging with either DUS or DSA alone are cost-effective at the conventional 50,000 dollars/QALY threshold. In conclusion, DSA is not cost-effective in the routine diagnostic workup of most patients. DUS, with additional imaging in the form of CEMRA, is recommended, with a strategy of "CEMRA and selective DUS review" being shown to be the optimal imaging strategy.

Original publication

DOI

10.1002/ana.20591

Type

Journal article

Journal

Ann Neurol

Publication Date

10/2005

Volume

58

Pages

506 - 515

Keywords

Aged, Carotid Stenosis, Case-Control Studies, Cost-Benefit Analysis, Endarterectomy, Carotid, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Angiography, Male, Markov Chains, Observer Variation, Predictive Value of Tests, Preoperative Care, Prospective Studies, Sensitivity and Specificity, Time Factors, Tomography, X-Ray Computed, Ultrasonography, Doppler, Duplex