The cost-effectiveness of tracking newborns with bilateral hearing impairment in Bavaria: a decision-analytic model.

Background: Although several countries, including Germany, have established newborn hearing screening programmes for early detection and treatment of newborns with hearing impairments, nationwide tracking systems for follow-up of newborns with positive test results until diagnosis of hearing impairment have often not been implemented. However, a recent study on universal newborn hearing screening in Bavaria showed that, in a high proportion of newborns, early diagnosis was only possible with the use of a tracking system. The aim of this study was, therefore, to assess the cost-effectiveness of tracking newborns with bilateral hearing impairment in Bavaria.

Specific guidelines for assessing and improving the methodological quality of economic evaluations of newborn screening.

Background: Economic evaluation of newborn screening poses specific methodological challenges. Amongst others, these challenges refer to the use of quality adjusted life years (QALYs) in newborns, and which costs and outcomes need to be considered in a full evaluation of newborn screening programmes. Because of the increasing scale and scope of such programmes, a better understanding of the methods of high-quality economic evaluations may be crucial for both producers/authors and consumers/reviewers of newborn screening-related economic evaluations.

A framework for assessing Health Economic Evaluation (HEE) quality appraisal instruments.

Background: Health economic evaluations support the health care decision-making process by providing information on costs and consequences of health interventions. The quality of such studies is assessed by health economic evaluation (HEE) quality appraisal instruments. At present, there is no instrument for measuring and improving the quality of such HEE quality appraisal instruments.

The quality of three decision-analytic diabetes models: a systematic health economic assessment.

Aims: Diabetes mellitus has important economic impacts worldwide. Interventions to prevent diabetes-related complications are often analyzed using model-based cost-effectiveness analyses. As model results are usually influenced by structural assumptions and by the data used, decision-makers should be able to assess the quality of diabetes models.

A systematic review of PET and PET/CT in oncology: a way to personalize cancer treatment in a cost-effective manner?

Background: A number of diagnostic tests are required for the detection and management of cancer. Most imaging modalities such as computerized tomography (CT) are anatomical. However, positron emission tomography (PET) is a functional diagnostic imaging technique using compounds labelled with positron-emitting radioisotopes to measure cell metabolism.

Systematic review of economic evaluations of human cell-derived wound care products for the treatment of venous leg and diabetic foot ulcers.

Background: Tissue engineering is an emerging field. Novel bioengineered skin substitutes and genetically derived growth factors offer innovative approaches to reduce the burden of diabetic foot and venous leg ulcers for both patients and health care systems. However, they frequently are very costly.

Validation of in vivo assessment of facial soft-tissue volume changes and clinical application in midfacial distraction: a technical report.

The purpose of this study was to validate the assessment of visible volume changes of the facial soft tissue with an optical three-dimensional sensor and to introduce new parameters for the evaluation of the soft-tissue shape achieved from three-dimensional data of selected cases of midfacial distraction. Images of a truncated cone of known volume were assessed repeatedly with an optical three-dimensional sensor based on phase-measuring triangulation to calculate the volume. Two cubic centimeters of anesthetic solution was injected into the right malar region of 10 volunteers who gave their informed consent.