Cost-effectiveness of magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound surgery for treatment of uterine fibroids.

Objective: To estimate the cost-effectiveness of a treatment strategy for symptomatic uterine fibroids, which starts with Magnetic Resonance-guided Focused Ultrasound Surgery (MRgFUS) as compared with current practice comprising uterine artery embolisation, myomectomy and hysterectomy.

Design: Cost-utility analysis based on a Markov model.

Setting: National Health Service (NHS) Trusts in England and Wales.

N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide testing improves the management of patients with suspected acute heart failure: primary results of the Canadian prospective randomized multicenter IMPROVE-CHF study.

Background: The diagnostic utility of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in heart failure has been documented. However, most of the data were derived from countries with high healthcare resource use, and randomized evidence for utility of NT-proBNP was lacking.

Methods And Results: We tested the hypothesis that NT-proBNP testing improves the management of patients presenting with dyspnea to emergency departments in Canada by prospectively comparing the clinical and economic impact of a randomized management strategy either guided by NT-proBNP results or without knowledge of NT-proBNP concentrations.

Cost-effectiveness of lipid-lowering treatment according to lipid level.

Background: Recent studies suggest that the benefit of lipid-lowering treatment for the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) extends to individuals with average cholesterol levels, to women and to the elderly. However, the proportion of the general population for which treatment is cost-effective has not been evaluated.

Objectives And Methods: Using data provided by the Canadian Heart Health Survey, the level of CVD risk was estimated for a random sample of the total population.

The cost-effectiveness of highly active antiretroviral therapy, Canada 1991-2001.

Aim: To estimate the cost-effectiveness ratio of highly-active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in Canada.

Design: A before-and-after analysis to calculate incremental cost of life year gained (LYG) between 1991 and 1995 (pre-HAART period) and between 1997 and 2001 (HAART period) for non-AIDS and AIDS groups (CDC stage of HIV infection).

Methods: For two Quebec HIV hospital clinics, mean inpatient (IP) days, outpatient (OP) visits and direct health care costs per patient-year (PPY) were calculated.