Cost-Effectiveness of Vericiguat in Patients With Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction: The VICTORIA Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: The VICTORIA trial (Vericiguat Global Study in Subjects With Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction) demonstrated that, in patients with high-risk heart failure, vericiguat reduced the primary composite outcome of cardiovascular death or heart failure hospitalization relative to placebo. The hazard ratio for all-cause mortality was 0.95 (95% CI, 0.

Cost-Effectiveness of Catheter Ablation Versus Antiarrhythmic Drug Therapy in Atrial Fibrillation: The CABANA Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: In the CABANA trial (Catheter Ablation vs Antiarrhythmic Drug Therapy for Atrial Fibrillation), catheter ablation did not significantly reduce the primary end point of death, disabling stroke, serious bleeding, or cardiac arrest compared with drug therapy by intention-to-treat, but did improve the quality of life and freedom from atrial fibrillation recurrence. In the heart failure subgroup, ablation improved both survival and quality of life. Cost-effectiveness was a prespecified CABANA secondary end point.

Cost-Effectiveness of Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery Versus Medicine in Ischemic Cardiomyopathy: The STICH Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: The STICH Randomized Clinical Trial (Surgical Treatment for Ischemic Heart Failure) demonstrated that coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) reduced all-cause mortality rates out to 10 years compared with medical therapy alone (MED) in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy and reduced left ventricular function (ejection fraction ≤35%). We examined the economic implications of these results.

Methods: We used a decision-analytic patient-level simulation model to estimate the lifetime costs and benefits of CABG and MED using patient-level resource use and clinical data collected in the STICH trial.

Evolving Cost-Quality Relationship in Pediatric Heart Surgery.

Background: For the more than 40,000 children in the United States undergoing congenital heart surgery annually, the relationship between hospital quality and costs remains unclear. Prior studies report conflicting results and clinical outcomes have continued to improve over time. We examined a large contemporary cohort, aiming to better inform ongoing initiatives seeking to optimize health care value in this population.

Costs Associated With Lobectomy for Lung Cancer: An Analysis Merging STS and Medicare Data.

Background: Costs related to care of patients who undergo lobectomy for lung cancer may vary depending on patient, disease, and treating facility characteristics. We aimed to identify underlying case mix factors that contribute to variability of 90-day costs of lobectomy for early-stage lung cancer.

Methods: The Society of Thoracic Surgeons General Thoracic Surgery Database was queried for lobectomy for clinical stage I lung cancer (2008-2013).

Initial and Longitudinal Cost of Surgical Resection for Lung Cancer.

Background: The longitudinal cost of treating patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) undergoing surgical resection has not been evaluated. We describe initial and 4-year resource use and cost for NSCLC patients aged 65 years of age or greater who were treated surgically between 2008 and 2013.

Methods: Using clinical data for NSCLC resections from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons General Thoracic Surgery Database linked to Medicare claims, resource use and cost of preoperative staging, surgery, and subsequent care through 4 years were examined ($2017).

Equivalent Survival Between Lobectomy and Segmentectomy for Clinical Stage IA Lung Cancer.

Background: The oncologic efficacy of segmentectomy is controversial. We compared long-term survival in clinical stage IA (T1N0) Medicare patients undergoing lobectomy and segmentectomy in The Society of Thoracic Surgeons database.

Methods: The Society of Thoracic Surgeons General Thoracic Surgery Database was linked to Medicare data in 14,286 lung cancer patients who underwent segmentectomy (n = 1654) or lobectomy (n = 12,632) for clinical stage IA disease from 2002 to 2015.

Estimating Resource Utilization in Congenital Heart Surgery.

Background: Optimal methods to assess resource utilization in congenital heart surgery remain unclear. We compared traditional cost-to-charge ratio methods with newer standardized cost methods that aim to more directly assess resources consumed.

Methods: Clinical data from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Database were linked with resource use data from the Pediatric Health Information Systems Database (2010 to 2015).

Hospital-Based Resource Use and Costs Among Patients With Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Enrolled in the Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Prospective Outcomes (IPF-PRO) Registry.

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a rare and serious condition that is associated with high health-care resource use. The goal of this study was to estimate hospital-related resource use and costs by using a national, prospective registry of patients who were diagnosed with IPF or who had their diagnosis confirmed at the enrolling center in the past 6 months in the United States.

Methods: Participants enrolled between June 5, 2014, and April 12, 2016, in the ongoing Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Prospective Outcomes Registry were included (N = 300).

Levosimendan in patients with reduced left ventricular function undergoing isolated coronary or valve surgery.

Objective: In the Levosimendan in Patients with Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction Undergoing Cardiac Surgery Requiring Cardiopulmonary Bypass (LEVO-CTS) trial, no differences in clinical outcomes were observed between levosimendan and placebo in a broad population of patients undergoing cardiac surgery. In previous studies, the benefits of levosimendan were most clearly evident in patients undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery. In a prespecified analysis of LEVO-CTS, we compared treatment-related outcomes and costs across types of cardiac surgical procedures.

Acute and 1-Year Hospitalization Costs for Acute Myocardial Infarction Treated With Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: Results From the TRANSLATE-ACS Registry.

Background Hospitalization for acute myocardial infarction (MI) in the United States is both common and expensive, but those features alone provide little insight into cost-saving opportunities. Methods and Results To understand the cost drivers during hospitalization for acute MI and in the following year, we prospectively studied 11 969 patients with acute MI undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention at 233 US hospitals (2010-2013) from the TRANSLATE-ACS (Treatment With ADP Receptor Inhibitors: Longitudinal Assessment of Treatment Patterns and Events After Acute Coronary Syndrome) registry. Baseline costs were collected in a random subset (n=4619 patients, 54% ST-segment-elevation MI [STEMI]), while follow-up costs out to 1 year were collected for all patients.

Lack of correlation between short- and long-term performance after lung cancer surgery.

Objective: Outcomes for lung cancer surgery are currently measured according to perioperative morbidity and mortality. However, the oncologic efficacy of the surgery is reflected by long-term survival. We examined correlation between measures of short-term and long-term performance for lung cancer surgery.

Economic and Quality-of-Life Outcomes of Natriuretic Peptide-Guided Therapy for Heart Failure.

Background: The GUIDE-IT (GUIDing Evidence Based Therapy Using Biomarker Intensified Treatment in Heart Failure) trial prospectively compared the efficacy of an N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP)-guided heart failure treatment strategy (target NT-proBNP level <1,000 pg/ml) with optimal medical therapy alone in high-risk patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction. When the study was stopped for futility, 894 patients had been enrolled.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess treatment-related quality-of-life (QOL) and economic outcomes in the GUIDE-IT trial.

Penetration, Completeness, and Representativeness of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons General Thoracic Surgery Database for Lobectomy.

Background: Not all surgeons performing lobectomy in the United States report outcomes to The Society of Thoracic Surgeons General Thoracic Surgery Database (STS GTSD). We examined penetration, completeness, and representativeness of the STS GTSD for lobectomy in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) patient population.

Methods: The STS GTSD lobectomies from 2002 to 2013 were linked and matched to CMS data using a deterministic matching algorithm.

Long-Term Mortality of Older Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction Treated in US Clinical Practice.

Background: There is limited information about the long-term survival of older patients after myocardial infarction (MI).

Methods And Results: CRUSADE (Can rapid risk stratification of unstable angina patients suppress adverse outcomes with early implementation of the ACC/AHA guidelines) was a registry of MI patients treated at 568 US hospitals from 2001 to 2006. We linked MI patients aged ≥65 years in CRUSADE to their Medicare data to ascertain long-term mortality (defined as 8 years post index event).

Minimally Invasive Lung Cancer Surgery Performed by Thoracic Surgeons as Effective as Thoracotomy.

Purpose The prevalence of minimally invasive lung cancer surgery using video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) has increased dramatically over the past decade, yet recent studies have suggested that the lymph node evaluation during VATS lobectomy is inadequate. We hypothesized that the minimally invasive approach to lobectomy for stage I lung cancer resulted in a longitudinal outcome that was not inferior to thoracotomy. Patients and Methods Patients > 65 years of age who had undergone lobectomy for stage I lung cancer between 2002 and 2013 were analyzed within the Society of Thoracic Surgeons General Thoracic Surgery Database, which had been linked to Medicare data, as part of a retrospective-cohort, noninferiority study.

Usefulness and Cost-Effectiveness of Universal Echocardiographic Contrast to Detect Left Ventricular Thrombus in Patients with Heart Failure and Reduced Ejection Fraction.

Contrast is a recommended but frequently unused tool in transthoracic echocardiography to improve detection of left ventricular thrombus in patients with ejection fraction (EF) ≤35%. The clinical and economic outcomes of a possible solution (i.e.

Differential effects of operative complications on survival after surgery for primary lung cancer.

Objective: Complications adversely affect survival after lung cancer surgery. We tested the hypothesis that effects of complications after lung cancer surgery on survival vary substantially across the spectrum of postoperative complications.

Methods: The Society of Thoracic Surgeons General Thoracic Surgery Database was linked to Medicare data for lung cancer resections from 2002 through 2013.

Prediction of Long-Term Survival After Lung Cancer Surgery for Elderly Patients in The Society of Thoracic Surgeons General Thoracic Surgery Database.

Background: Prior risk models using the STS General Thoracic Surgery database (STS-GTSD) have been limited to 30-day outcomes. We have now linked STS data to Medicare data and sought to create a risk prediction model for long-term mortality after lung cancer resection in patients older than 65 years.

Methods: The STS-GTSD was linked to Medicare data for lung cancer resections from 2002 to 2013 as previously reported.

Surgically Managed Clinical Stage IIIA-Clinical N2 Lung Cancer in The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Database.

Background: The role of surgical resection in patients with clinical stage IIIA-N2 positive (cIIIA-N2) lung cancer is controversial, partly because of the variability in short- and long-term outcomes. The objective of this study was to characterize the management of cIIIA-N2 lung cancer in The Society of Thoracic Surgeons General Thoracic Surgery Database (STS-GTSD).

Methods: The STS-GTSD was queried for patients who underwent operations for cIIIA-N2 lung cancer between 2002 and 2012.

Economic Analysis of Apixaban Therapy for Patients With Atrial Fibrillation From a US Perspective: Results From the ARISTOTLE Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: The Apixaban for Reduction in Stroke and Other Thromboembolic Events in Atrial Fibrillation (ARISTOTLE) trial reported that apixaban therapy was superior to warfarin therapy in preventing stroke and all-cause death while causing significantly fewer major bleeds. To establish the value proposition of substituting apixiban therapy for warfarin therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation, we performed a cost-effectiveness analysis using patient-level data from the ARISTOTLE trial.

Objective: To assess the cost and cost-effectiveness of apixaban therapy compared with warfarin therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation from the perspective of the US health care system.

Economic Analysis of Primary Care-Based Physical Activity Counseling in Older Men: The VA-LIFE Trial.

Objectives: To perform an economic evaluation of a primary care-based physical activity counseling intervention that improved physical activity levels and rapid gait speed in older veterans.

Design: Secondary objective of randomized trial that assessed the effect of exercise counseling (relative to usual care) on physical performance, physical activity, function, disability, and medical resource use and cost.

Setting: Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina.

Health-related quality of life outcomes with prasugrel among medically managed non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome patients: Insights from the Targeted Platelet Inhibition to Clarify the Optimal Strategy to Medically Manage Acute Coronary Syndromes (TRILOGY ACS) trial.

Background: Few studies have assessed treatment effects on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) treated without revascularization. The TRILOGY ACS trial randomized patients with ACS to either prasugrel or clopidogrel therapy plus aspirin. Outcomes showed a complex pattern suggestive of late benefits with respect to repeat clinical events and benefits confined to patients who underwent angiography.

Economic Outcomes With Anatomical Versus Functional Diagnostic Testing for Coronary Artery Disease.

Background: PROMISE (PROspective Multicenter Imaging Study for Evaluation of Chest Pain) found that initial use of at least 64-slice multidetector computed tomography angiography (CTA) versus functional diagnostic testing strategies did not improve clinical outcomes in stable symptomatic patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) requiring noninvasive testing.

Objective: To conduct an economic analysis for PROMISE (a major secondary aim of the study).

Design: Prospective economic study from the U.

Longitudinal Follow-up of Lung Cancer Resection From the Society of Thoracic Surgeons General Thoracic Surgery Database in Patients 65 Years and Older.

Background: The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) General Thoracic Surgery Database (GTSD) does not capture long-term survival after lung cancer surgery. Our objective was to provide longitudinal follow-up to the STS GTSD through linkage to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) data for patients 65 years of age or older.

Methods: Lung cancer operations reported in the STS GTSD from 2002 through 2012 were linked to CMS data for patients 65 years of age or older using variables common to both databases with a deterministic matching algorithm.