Biomedical subjects

Kevin J Anstrom

Publications and source records attributed to Kevin J Anstrom.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2026

Comparative effectiveness of torsemide vs furosemide in the management of heart failure patients: Win-ratio reanalysis of the TRANSFORM-HF trial.

BACKGROUND: Loop diuretics are widely used for managing congestion in patients with heart failure (HF). The TRANSFORM-HF trial is a multicenter randomized study that enrolled heart failure patients, comparing a strategy of torsemide vs furosemide. The time-to-event analysis demonstrated neutral effects on all-cause death at 30 months and the composite of all-cause death and first rehospitalization at 12 months. We evaluated whether a hierarchical win-ratio (WR) framework integrating mortality, recurrent hospitalization, and patient-reported health status provides additional interpretive insight. METHODS: This study is a secondary analysis of the pragmatic, multicenter, open-label, randomized TRANSFORM-HF trial, conducted across 60 US hospitals that randomized 2,859 patients hospitalized with HF to torsemide or furosemide. The primary 12-month hierarchical composite outcome was defined as (1) all-cause mortality, (2) recurrent all-cause hospitalizations, and (3) lack of improvement in the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire Clinical Summary Score (KCCQ-CSS). The primary statistical method was a WR analysis adjusting covariates via inverse probability weighting. Subgroup analyses evaluated potential heterogeneity across patient demographics and clinical characteristics. RESULTS: In the primary 12-month intention-to-treat analysis, the adjusted WR was 1.07 (95% CI, 0.98-1.16; P = .13), indicating no significant difference between torsemide and furosemide. A supplementary 30-month analysis with extended mortality follow-up yielded a similar estimate (adjusted WR, 1.06; 95% CI, 0.98-1.16; P = .14); hospitalization and KCCQ-CSS components were assessed through 12 months. As-treated sensitivity analyses were consistent with the neutral primary findings. Exploratory subgroup analyses were not adjusted for multiplicity and should be considered hypothesis-generating. CONCLUSIONS: The overall WR comparison between torsemide and furosemide showed no statistically significant difference in the primary 12-month analysis. The WR framework provided an interpretive decomposition across outcome domains but did not establish superiority of either loop diuretic strategy. All findings should be considered exploratory. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03296813, https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03296813.

Aged↗

PubMed2007

Comparative evaluation of Etest and sensititre yeastone panels against the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute M27-A2 reference broth microdilution method for testing Candida susceptibility to seven antifungal agents.

To assess their utility for antifungal susceptibility testing in our clinical laboratory, the Etest and Sensititre methods were compared with the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) M27-A2 reference broth microdilution method. Fluconazole (FL), itraconazole (I), voriconazole (V), posaconazole (P), flucytosine (FC), caspofungin (C), and amphotericin B (A) were tested with 212 Candida isolates. Reference MICs were determined after 48 h of incubation, and Etest and Sensititre MICs were determined after 24 h and 48 h of incubation. Overall, excellent essential agreement (EA) between the reference and test methods was observed for Etest (95%) and Sensititre (91%). Etest showed an >or=92% EA for MICs for all drugs tested; Sensititre showed a >or=92% EA for MICs for I, FC, A, and C but 82% for FL and 85% for V. The overall categorical agreement (CA) was 90% for Etest and 88% for Sensititre; minor errors accounted for the majority of all categorical errors for both systems. Categorical agreement was lowest for Candida glabrata and Candida tropicalis with both test systems. Etest and Sensititre provided better CA at 24 h compared to 48 h for C. glabrata; however, CA for C. glabrata was <80% for FL with both test systems despite MIC determination at 24 h. Agreement between technologists for both methods was >or=98% for each agent against all organisms tested. Overall, Etest and Sensititre methods compared favorably with the CLSI reference method for determining the susceptibility of Candida. However, further evaluation of their performance for determining the MICs of azoles, particularly for C. glabrata, is warranted.

Antifungal Agents↗

PubMed2006

Clopidogrel use and long-term clinical outcomes after drug-eluting stent implantation.

CONTEXT: Recent studies of drug-eluting intracoronary stents suggest that current antiplatelet regimens may not be sufficient to prevent late stent thrombosis. OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between clopidogrel use and long-term clinical outcomes of patients receiving drug-eluting stents (DES) and bare-metal stents (BMS) for treatment of coronary artery disease. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS: An observational study examining consecutive patients receiving intracoronary stents at Duke Heart Center, a tertiary care medical center in Durham, NC, between January 1, 2000, and July 31, 2005, with follow-up contact at 6, 12, and 24 months through September 7, 2006. Study population included 4666 patients undergoing initial percutaneous coronary intervention with BMS (n = 3165) or DES (n = 1501). Landmark analyses were performed among patients who were event-free (no death, myocardial infarction [MI], or revascularization) at 6- and 12-month follow-up. At these points, patients were divided into 4 groups based on stent type and self-reported clopidogrel use: DES with clopidogrel, DES without clopidogrel, BMS with clopidogrel, and BMS without clopidogrel. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Death, nonfatal MI, and the composite of death or MI at 24-month follow-up. RESULTS: Among patients with DES who were event-free at 6 months (637 with and 579 without clopidogrel), clopidogrel use was a significant predictor of lower adjusted rates of death (2.0% with vs 5.3% without; difference, -3.3%; 95% CI, -6.3% to -0.3%; P = .03) and death or MI (3.1% vs 7.2%; difference, -4.1%; 95% CI, -7.6% to -0.6%; P = .02) at 24 months. However, among patients with BMS (417 with and 1976 without clopidogrel), there were no differences in death (3.7% vs 4.5%; difference, -0.7%; 95% CI, -2.9% to 1.4%; P = .50) and death or MI (5.5% vs 6.0%; difference, -0.5%; 95% CI, -3.2% to 2.2%; P = .70). Among patients with DES who were event-free at 12 months (252 with and 276 without clopidogrel), clopidogrel use continued to predict lower rates of death (0% vs 3.5%; difference, -3.5%; 95% CI, -5.9% to -1.1%; P = .004) and death or MI (0% vs 4.5%; difference, -4.5%; 95% CI, -7.1% to -1.9%; P<.001) at 24 months. However, among patients with BMS (346 with and 1644 without clopidogrel), there continued to be no differences in death (3.3% vs 2.7%; difference, 0.6%; 95% CI, -1.5% to 2.8%; P = .57) and death or MI (4.7% vs 3.6%; difference, 1.0%; 95% CI, -1.6% to 3.6%; P = .44). CONCLUSIONS: The extended use of clopidogrel in patients with DES may be associated with a reduced risk for death and death or MI. However, the appropriate duration for clopidogrel administration can only be determined within the context of a large-scale randomized clinical trial.

Aged↗

PubMed2006

Cost-effectiveness of defibrillator therapy or amiodarone in chronic stable heart failure: results from the Sudden Cardiac Death in Heart Failure Trial (SCD-HeFT).

BACKGROUND: In the Sudden Cardiac Death in Heart Failure Trial (SCD-HeFT), implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy significantly reduced all-cause mortality rates compared with medical therapy alone in patients with stable, moderately symptomatic heart failure, whereas amiodarone had no benefit on mortality rates. We examined long-term economic implications of these results. METHODS AND RESULTS: Medical costs were estimated by using hospital billing data and the Medicare Fee Schedule. Our base case cost-effectiveness analysis used empirical clinical and cost data to estimate the lifetime incremental cost of saving an extra life-year with ICD therapy relative to medical therapy alone. At 5 years, the amiodarone arm had a survival rate equivalent to that of the placebo arm and higher costs than the placebo arm. For ICD relative to medical therapy alone, the base case lifetime cost-effectiveness and cost-utility ratios (discounted at 3%) were dollar 38,389 per life-year saved (LYS) and dollar 41,530 per quality-adjusted LYS, respectively. A cost-effectiveness ratio < dollar 100,000 was obtained in 99% of 1000 bootstrap repetitions. The cost-effectiveness ratio was sensitive to the amount of extrapolation beyond the empirical 5-year trial data: dollar 127,503 per LYS at 5 years, dollar 88,657 per LYS at 8 years, and dollar 58,510 per LYS at 12 years. Because of a significant interaction between ICD treatment and New York Heart Association class, the cost-effectiveness ratio was dollar 29,872 per LYS for class II, whereas there was incremental cost but no incremental benefit in class III. CONCLUSIONS: Prophylactic use of single-lead, shock-only ICD therapy is economically attractive in patients with stable, moderately symptomatic heart failure with an ejection fraction < or = 35%, particularly those in NYHA class II, as long as the benefits of ICD therapy observed in the SCD-HeFT persist for at least 8 years.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Costs for heart failure with normal vs reduced ejection fraction.

BACKGROUND: Among the elderly population, heart failure (HF) with normal ejection fraction (EF) is more common than classic HF with low EF. However, there are few data regarding the costs of HF with normal EF. In a prospective, population-based cohort of elderly participants, we compared the costs and resource use of patients with HF and normal and reduced EF. METHODS: A total of 4549 participants (84.5% white; 40.6% male) in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Cardiovascular Health Study were linked to Medicare claims from 1992 through 1998. By protocol echo examinations or clinical EF assessments, 881 participants with HF were characterized as having abnormal or normal EF. We applied semiparametric estimators to calculate mean costs per subject for a 5-year period. RESULTS: There were 495 HF participants with normal EF (186 prevalent at study entry and 309 incident during the study period) and 386 participants with abnormal EF (166 prevalent and 220 incident). Participants with abnormal EF had more cardiology encounters and cardiac procedures. However, compared with abnormal EF participants, the 5-year costs for normal EF participants were similar in both the prevalent ($33,023 with abnormal EF and $32,580 with normal EF; P=.93) and incident ($49,128 with abnormal EF and $45,604 with normal EF; P=.55) groups. In models accounting for comorbid conditions, the costs with normal and abnormal EF remained similar. CONCLUSIONS: Over a 5-year period, patients with HF and normal EF consume as many health care resources as those with reduced EF. These data highlight the substantial financial burden of HF with normal EF among the elderly population.

Aged↗

PubMed2006

National evaluation of adherence to beta-blocker therapy for 1 year after acute myocardial infarction in patients with commercial health insurance.

BACKGROUND: Quality measures of evidence-based medications post-myocardial infarction have focused on prescription at hospital discharge. Yet survival benefits of these medications are best realized with sustained therapy. We sought to examine long-term beta-blocker adherence over the first year after myocardial infarction in patients with commercial health insurance and prescription drug benefits. METHODS: This multicenter analysis examined health plan records from members of 11 health plans who had myocardial infarction in 2001, survived at least 1 year, and maintained insurance coverage (N = 17,035). The primary outcome measure was adherence to beta-blockers (defined as prescription claims covering > or = 75% of days) for 360 days post-discharge. We also examined associations with adherence--time from discharge, health plan product (commercial or Medicare + Choice [M + C]), age (35-64 or > or = 65), sex, and region. RESULTS: For 360 days after discharge, only 45% of patients were adherent to beta-blockers, with the biggest drop in adherence between 30 and 90 days. In a multivariable model, statistically significant predictors of lower adherence were participation in M + C product, residence in the Southeast, and age (driven by young participants in M + C and young females in commercial products). CONCLUSIONS: In a population of patients with health insurance and prescription drug coverage, adherence to beta-blocker therapy in the first year after myocardial infarction is poor, indicating that factors other than medication cost are important determinants of long-term adherence. Quality improvement initiatives focused on long-term adherence are needed to realize maximal benefit from medical therapy in post-myocardial infarction patients.

Adrenergic beta-Antagonists↗

PubMed2005

Staphylococcus aureus endocarditis: a consequence of medical progress.

CONTEXT: The global significance of infective endocarditis (IE) caused by Staphylococcus aureus is unknown. OBJECTIVES: To document the international emergence of health care-associated S aureus IE and methicillin-resistant S aureus (MRSA) IE and to evaluate regional variation in patients with S aureus IE. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Prospective observational cohort study set in 39 medical centers in 16 countries. Participants were a population of 1779 patients with definite IE as defined by Duke criteria who were enrolled in the International Collaboration on Endocarditis-Prospective Cohort Study from June 2000 to December 2003. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: In-hospital mortality. RESULTS: S aureus was the most common pathogen among the 1779 cases of definite IE in the International Collaboration on Endocarditis Prospective-Cohort Study (558 patients, 31.4%). Health care-associated infection was the most common form of S aureus IE (218 patients, 39.1%), accounting for 25.9% (Australia/New Zealand) to 54.2% (Brazil) of cases. Most patients with health care-associated S aureus IE (131 patients, 60.1%) acquired the infection outside of the hospital. MRSA IE was more common in the United States (37.2%) and Brazil (37.5%) than in Europe/Middle East (23.7%) and Australia/New Zealand (15.5%, P<.001). Persistent bacteremia was independently associated with MRSA IE (odds ratio, 6.2; 95% confidence interval, 2.9-13.2). Patients in the United States were most likely to be hemodialysis dependent, to have diabetes, to have a presumed intravascular device source, to receive vancomycin, to be infected with MRSA, and to have persistent bacteremia (P<.001 for all comparisons). CONCLUSIONS: S aureus is the leading cause of IE in many regions of the world. Characteristics of patients with S aureus IE vary significantly by region. Further studies are required to determine the causes of regional variation.

Cross Infection↗

PubMed2005

Clinical and economic implications of the Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial-II.

BACKGROUND: The Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial (MADIT)-II demonstrated that implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) save lives when used in patients with a history of myocardial infarction (MI) and an ejection fraction of 0.3 or less. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the cost-effectiveness of implanting ICDs in patients who met MADIT-II eligibility criteria and were enrolled in the Duke Cardiovascular Database between 1 January 1986 and 31 December 2001. DESIGN: Cost-effectiveness analysis. DATA SOURCES: Published literature, databases owned by Duke University Medical Center, and Medicare data. TARGET POPULATION: Adults with a history of MI and an ejection fraction of 0.3 or less. TIME HORIZON: Lifetime. PERSPECTIVE: Societal. INTERVENTIONS: ICD therapy versus conventional medical therapy. OUTCOMES MEASURES: Cost per life-year gained and incremental cost-effectiveness. RESULTS: Compared with conventional medical therapy, ICDs are projected to result in an increase of 1.80 discounted years in life expectancy and an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of 50,500 dollars per life-year gained. Cost-effectiveness varied dramatically with changes in time horizon: The cost-effectiveness ratio increased to 67,800 dollars per life-year gained, 79,900 dollars per life-year gained, 100,000 dollars per life-year gained, 167,900 dollars per life-year gained, and 367,200 dollars per life-year gained for 15-year, 12-year, 9-year, 6-year, and 3-year time horizons, respectively. Changing the frequency of follow-up visits, complication rates, and battery replacements had less of an effect on the cost-effectiveness ratios than reducing the cost of ICD placement and leads. LIMITATIONS: The study was limited by the completeness of the data, referral bias, difference in medical therapy between the Duke cohort and the MADIT-II cohort, and not addressing potential upgrades to biventricular devices. CONCLUSIONS: The economic expense of defibrillator implantation in all patients who meet MADIT-II eligibility criteria is substantial. However, in the range of survival benefit observed in MADIT-II, ICD therapy for these patients is economically attractive by conventional standards.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Identification, diagnosis and treatment of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia and thrombosis: a registry of prolonged heparin use and thrombocytopenia among hospitalized patients with and without cardiovascular disease. The Complication After Thrombocytopenia Caused by Heparin (CATCH) Registry steering committee.

BACKGROUND: Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is estimated to occur in 1-5% of all patients receiving heparin, and 25-50% of such cases develop heparin-induced thrombocytopenia with thrombosis (HITT) A conservative estimate based only on cardiovascular patients suggests that in the United States approximately 100,000 patients develop thrombocytopenia, and 25-50,000 develop HITT annually. Both HIT and HITT are associated with high morbidity and mortality and represent substantial worldwide public health concerns. REGISTRY DESIGN: The objective of the Complication After Thrombocytopenia Caused by Heparin (CATCH) Registry is to identify the incidence of HIT and/or HITT in patients treated with systemic heparin (unfractionated or low molecular weight heparin) in contemporary practice. Additional objectives include to: (1) provide a comprehensive database of patients with suspected HIT or HITT, (2) monitor and define clinical events, including thrombocytopenia, thrombosis, and mortality among patients treated with prolonged (> 96 hours) heparin, (3) describe the incidence and outcomes of HIT and HITT in patients who are treated with heparin and who develop thrombocytopenia in the Coronary Care Unit setting, and (4) document and characterize current diagnostic and therapeutic strategies of suspected HIT. The unblinded registry will record approximately 5,000 patients at 60-80 US hospitals with either prolonged systemic heparin administration or thrombocytopenia and those with suspected HIT or HITT. Enrollment began in the first quarter 2003 and was completed at the end of 2004. IMPLICATIONS: The registry will provide valuable insights to the incidence and consequences of HIT and HITT that will enable improvements in diagnosis and treatment.

Cardiovascular Diseases↗

PubMed2005

Conducting economic evaluations alongside multinational clinical trials: toward a research consensus.

Demand for economic evaluations in multinational clinical trials is increasing, but there is little consensus about how such studies should be conducted and reported. At a workshop in Durham, North Carolina, we sought to identify areas of agreement about how the primary findings of economic evaluations in multinational clinical trials should be generated and presented. In this paper, we propose a framework for classifying multinational economic evaluations according to (a) the sources of an analyst's estimates of resource use and clinical effectiveness and (b) the analyst's method of estimating costs. We review existing studies in the cardiology literature in the context of the proposed framework. We then describe important methodological and practical considerations in conducting multinational economic evaluations and summarize the advantages and disadvantages of each approach. Finally, we describe opportunities for future research. Delineation of the various approaches to multinational economic evaluation may assist researchers, peer reviewers, journal editors, and decision makers in evaluating the strengths and limitations of particular studies.

Clinical Trials as Topic↗

PubMed2005

The use and effect of surgical therapy for prosthetic valve infective endocarditis: a propensity analysis of a multicenter, international cohort.

BACKGROUND: Although surgical intervention is often used in the treatment of prosthetic valve infective endocarditis (PVIE), an understanding of its effect on survival has been limited by the biases of observational studies and lack of controlled trials. METHODS: The International Collaboration on Endocarditis Merged Database is a large, multicenter, international registry of patients with definite endocarditis by Duke criteria, including 367 patients with PVIE. Clinical, microbiologic, and echocardiographic variables were analyzed to determine those factors associated with the use of surgery for PVIE. Logistic regression analysis was performed to create a propensity model of predictors of surgery use. Patients who underwent surgery during initial hospitalization were matched by propensity score with patients treated with medical therapy alone. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine variables independently associated with inhospital mortality in this matched subset. RESULTS: Surgical therapy for PVIE was performed in 148 (42%) of 367 patients. Inhospital mortality was similar for patients treated with surgery compared with those treated with medical therapy alone (25.0% vs 23.4%, P = .729). Surgical therapy was independently associated with patient age, microorganism, intracardiac abscess, and congestive heart failure. After adjustment for these determinants, inhospital mortality was predicted by brain embolization (OR 11.12, 95% CI 4.16-29.73) and Staphylococcus aureus infection (OR 3.67, 95% CI 1.29-9.74), with a trend toward benefit for surgery (OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.23-1.36). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the frequent use of surgery for the treatment of PVIE, this condition continues to be associated with a high inhospital mortality rate in the contemporary era. After adjustment for factors related to surgical intervention, brain embolism and S aureus infection were independently associated with inhospital mortality and a trend toward a survival benefit of surgery was evident.

Aged↗

PubMed2005

Use of surgery in patients with native valve infective endocarditis: results from the International Collaboration on Endocarditis Merged Database.

BACKGROUND: Early surgery has been shown to be beneficial for patients with infective endocarditis (IE), yet surgery is not used in most patients. Evidence of the uncertainty around the use of surgery can be found in the wide variations in the use of cardiac surgery in IE with few precise indications for cardiac surgery yet defined. The aim of the study was to characterize patients with native valve IE relative to surgery and to determine if patients who benefit from an early surgical intervention can be identified. METHODS: The International Collaboration on Endocarditis Merged Database was used to quantify the differences between patients with IE receiving medical and surgical intervention in 1516 patients with definite native valve IE. Propensity models were built to identify a group of patients that benefit from early surgery. RESULTS: Patients in the early surgical group were more likely to be male, younger, and with less comorbidities compared with the early medical group (P < .001 for all) and were less likely to have infection with Staphylococcus aureus or viridans group streptococci (P < .05 for all). Intracardiac abscess and heart failure were much more common in the surgical group (P < .001 for all). In an unadjusted comparison, there was no statistically significant survival advantage in the surgical group. However, in the propensity analysis, in the subgroup of patients with the most indications for surgery, there was a significant decrease in mortality associated with early surgery (11.2% vs 38.0%, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The benefits of surgery are not seen uniformly in all patients with native valve IE, but are most realized in a targeted population. This observation requires confirmation in other populations of patients with definite IE.

Endocarditis, Bacterial↗

PubMed2005

Costs and outcomes among hemodialysis-dependent patients with methicillin-resistant or methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia.

OBJECTIVE: Comorbid conditions have complicated previous analyses of the consequences of methicillin resistance for costs and outcomes of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia. We compared costs and outcomes of methicillin resistance in patients with S. aureus bacteremia and a single chronic condition. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS: We conducted a prospective cohort study of hemodialysis-dependent patients with end-stage renal disease and S. aureus bacteremia hospitalized between July 1996 and August 2001. We used propensity scores to reduce bias when comparing patients with methicillin-resistant (MRSA) and methicillin-susceptible (MSSA) S. aureus bacteremia. Outcome measures were resource use, direct medical costs, and clinical outcomes at 12 weeks after initial hospitalization. RESULTS: Fifty-four patients (37.8%) had MRSA and 89 patients (62.2%) had MSSA. Compared with patients with MSSA bacteremia, patients with MRSA bacteremia were more likely to have acquired the infection while hospitalized for another condition (27.8% vs 12.4%; P = .02). To attribute all inpatient costs to S. aureus bacteremia, we limited the analysis to 105 patients admitted for suspected S. aureus bacteremia from a community setting. Adjusted costs were higher for MRSA bacteremia for the initial hospitalization (21,251 dollars vs 13,978 dollars; P = .012) and after 12 weeks (25,518 dollars vs 17,354 dollars; P = .015). At 12 weeks, patients with MRSA bacteremia were more likely to die (adjusted odds ratio, 5.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.5 to 18.7) than were patients with MSSA bacteremia. CONCLUSIONS: Community-dwelling, hemodialysis-dependent patients hospitalized with MRSA bacteremia face a higher mortality risk, longer hospital stays, and higher inpatient costs than do patients with MSSA bacteremia.

APACHE↗

PubMed2005

Assessing the potential economic value of health information technology interventions in a community-based health network.

Health information professionals recognize the need to demonstrate that the benefits of health information technological (HIT) interventions outweigh their costs. However, such cost-benefit analyses are rarely conducted for HIT interventions, due in part to the lack of a standard methodology. In this study, we describe how the U.S. Public Health Service's guidelines for health economic analyses can be used to evaluate HIT interventions. This framework is described in the context of an economic analysis we are conducting for three HIT interventions to be implemented in a community-based health network caring for Medicaid beneficiaries in Durham County, North Carolina. At present, the 17,779 patients in our study cost Medicaid more than $5 million per month. In sensitivity analyses, we demonstrate that if our information intervention redirects just 10% of low-severity emergency room encounters to outpatient encounters, it will result in $12,523 of monthly savings to the local health system.

Biomedical Technology↗

PubMed2005

Developing a framework for conducting economic evaluations of community-based health information technology interventions.

This study describes a framework for conducting economic analyses for health information technology (HIT) interventions, in the context of three interventions that are currently being implemented in a community-based health network caring for 17,779 Medicaid beneficiaries in Durham County, North Carolina. We show that if the HIT interventions were to redirect only 10% of low-severity emergency room encounters to outpatient care, it will result in $12,523 of monthly savings.

Ambulatory Care↗

PubMed2004

Long-term survival estimates for imatinib versus interferon-alpha plus low-dose cytarabine for patients with newly diagnosed chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia.

BACKGROUND: The authors estimated survival among patients with chronic myeloid leukemia for a cost-effectiveness analysis of imatinib versus interferon-alpha plus low-dose cytarabine (IFN+LDAC). METHODS: Two-year survival and cytogenetic response were determined using data from 553 patients who received first-line imatinib in the International Randomized Interferon versus ST571 Study (IRIS). Long-term survival was modeled on complete cytogenetic response (CCyR) after 2 years. Long-term survival for patients with a CCyR was modeled using data from a cohort study of 317 patients with CCyRs. Long-term survival for patients without a CCyR was modeled using data from a trial of 275 patients who were treated with IFN+LDAC. Computation of lifetime survival estimates for imatinib assumed a proportional hazards relation between survival for an age-matched and gender-matched cohort and survival for patients with and without a CCyR. RESULTS: For IRIS patients receiving imatinib, the estimated survival was 95.8% and the CCyR rate was 73.8%. The average residual life expectancy was estimated to be 16.71 years for CCyR patients and 5.78 years for non-CCyR patients. The estimated life expectancy after treatment with imatinib was 15.30 years, compared with 9.07 years for patients who were treated with IFN+LDAC in previous studies. CONCLUSIONS: Assuming the relation between CCyR and survival with interferon-alpha holds for imatinib, higher CCyR rates with imatinib therapy will result in an estimated 6.23 life-years gained compared with treatment with IFN+LDAC.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Cost-effectiveness of imatinib versus interferon-alpha plus low-dose cytarabine for patients with newly diagnosed chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia.

BACKGROUND: Despite a lack of long-term data, imatinib has become standard therapy for patients with newly diagnosed chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) who are not candidates for allogeneic stem cell transplantation. In the current study, the authors estimated the incremental cost-effectiveness of imatinib versus interferon-alpha plus low-dose cytarabine (IFN+LDAC) as first-line therapy for these patients. METHODS: Data from the International Randomized Interferon versus STI571 Study and the literature were used to estimate lifetime costs, survival, and quality-adjusted survival. Survival estimates were based on published survival curves for patients who achieved and those who did not achieve a complete cytogenetic response after treatment with interferon-alpha. RESULTS: The mean estimated survival with first-line imatinib therapy was 15.30 years, compared with 9.07 years with IFN+LDAC. Undiscounted lifetime costs were approximately $424,600 with imatinib and $182,800 with IFN+LDAC. Using a 3% discount rate, the incremental survival gain with imatinib was 3.93 life-years and 3.89 quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs). Incremental discounted lifetime costs were found to be $168,100 higher with imatinib, resulting in incremental cost-effectiveness ratios of $43,100 per life-year saved (95% confidence interval [95% CI], $37,600-51,100) and $43,300 per QALY (95% CI, $38,300-49,100). CONCLUSIONS: The results of the current study demonstrate that compared with IFN+LDAC, imatinib is a cost-effective first-line therapy in patients with newly diagnosed chronic-phase CML.

Antineoplastic Agents↗

PubMed2004

Native valve endocarditis due to coagulase-negative staphylococci: report of 99 episodes from the International Collaboration on Endocarditis Merged Database.

Using a large cohort of patients from the International Collaboration on Endocarditis Merged Database, we compared coagulase-negative staphylococcal (CoNS) native-valve endocarditis (NVE) to NVE caused by more common pathogens. Rates of heart failure and mortality were similar between patients with CoNS NVE and patients with Staphylococcus aureus NVE, but rates for both groups were significantly higher than rates for patients with NVE due to viridans streptococci. These results emphasize the importance of CoNS as a cause of NVE and the potential for serious complications with this infection.

Aged↗