The Cost Effectiveness of Hand Held Ultrasound Scanning for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm in Older Males with a History of Smoking.

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a serious illness occurring in 1 of 20 older men. Guidelines emphasize the role of ultrasound scanning for patients at risk of AAA, yet the cost effectiveness of such scanning remains uncertain. New pocket mobile echocardiography (PME) devices may enhance the cost effectiveness of such scanning due to its low cost, ability to be used in primary care settings, and high degree of accuracy.

The impact of CT colonography for colorectal cancer screening on the UK NHS: costs, healthcare resources and health outcomes.

Background: Biennial faecal occult blood testing (FOBT) for individuals aged 60-69 years is the primary screening tool for colorectal cancer (CRC) in the UK NHS, despite a large number of patients undergoing an unnecessary optical colonoscopy (OC) and evidence from modelling studies to suggest that more cost-effective technologies exist. CT colonography (CTC) is an emerging CRC screening technology with the potential to prevent CRC by detecting pre-cancerous polyps and to detect cancer at an earlier stage.

Objective: to assess the impact of introducing CTC into the UK NHS screening programme for CRC on key health outcomes as well as the NHS budget and healthcare resource capacity.