Primary prevention of cardiovascular disease: cost-effectiveness comparison

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of four risk-lowering interventions (smoking cessation, antihypertensives, aspirin, and statins) in primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. METHODS: Using data from the Framingham Heart Study and the Framingham Offspring study, we built life tables to model the benefits of the selected interventions. Participants were classified by age and level of risk of coronary heart disease. The effects of risk reduction are obtained as numbers of death averted and life-years saved within a 10-year period. Estimates of risk reduction by the interventions were obtained from meta-analyses and costs from Dutch sources. RESULTS: The most cost-effective is smoking cessation therapy, representing savings in all situations. Aspirin is the second most cost-effective (euro 2,263 to euro 16,949 per year of life saved) followed by antihypertensives. Statins are the least cost-effective (euro 73,971 to euro 190,276 per year of life saved). CONCLUSIONS: A cost-effective strategy should offer smoking cessation for smokers and aspirin for moderate and high levels of risk among men 45 years of age and older. Statin therapy is the most expensive option in primary prevention at levels of 10-year coronary heart disease risk below 30 percent and should not constitute the first choice of treatment in these populations.     

Contribution to nursing care for patients with mitral valve disease

The purpose of this study was to define: the profile of patients with mitral valve dysfunction (stenosis and/or insufficiency) who were assisted at the University Outpatients' Clinic, the knowledge that these patients had concerning their disorder and the main difficulties and limitations resulting from it. The necessary data were obtained by interviewing 29 patients from November 1997 to February 1998. An analysis was conducted through the Content Analysis Technique. The results obtained helped to understand the problem under the individual's and his family's viewpoint, which helped to elaborate a nursing care program with an educational focus.     

The clinical and diagnostic features of mitral valve disease

Mitral valve disease remains common, and requires regular clinical and echocardiographic review. Surgery is indicated soon after the development of symptoms or at the first sign of left ventricular decompensation in mitral regurgitation or of the right ventricle in mitral stenosis.     

Model to assess the cost-effectiveness of new treatments for depression

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to develop a model to assess the cost-effectiveness of a new treatment for patients with depression. METHODS: A Markov simulation model was constructed to evaluate standard care for depression as performed in clinical practice compared with a new treatment for depression. Costs and effects were estimated for time horizons of 6 months to 5 years. A naturalistic longitudinal observational study provided data on costs, quality of life, and transition probabilities. Data on long-term consequences of depression and mortality risks were collected from the literature. Cost-effectiveness was quantified as quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) gained from the new treatment compared with standard care, and the societal perspective was taken. Probabilistic analyses were conducted to present the uncertainty in the results, and sensitivity analyses were conducted on key parameters used in the model. RESULTS: Compared with standard care, the new hypothetical therapy was predicted to substantially decrease costs and was also associated with gains in QALYs. With an improved treatment effect of 50 percent on achieving full remission, the net cost savings were 20,000 Swedish kronor over a 5-year follow-up time, given equal costs of treatments. Patients gained .073 QALYs over 5 years. The results are sensitive to changes in assigned treatment effects. CONCLUSIONS: The present study provides a new model for assessing the cost-effectiveness of treatments for depression by incorporating full remission as the treatment goal and QALYs as the primary outcome measure. Moreover, we show the usefulness of naturalistic real-life data on costs and quality of life and transition probabilities when modeling the disease over time.     

二尖瓣成形术在感染性心内膜炎二尖瓣关闭不全中的应用研究

目的评估二尖瓣成形术治疗自体感染性心内膜炎(infective endocarditis,IE)的可行性及中远期疗效。方法选取2011年1月-2015年6月医院收治的因感染性心内膜炎单纯累及二尖瓣并致二尖瓣关闭不全患者68例为研究对象,其中二尖瓣成形术(mitral valve plasty,MVP)19例为MVP组,二尖瓣置换术(mitral valve replacement,MVR)49例为MVR组。比较两组患者的一般资料及手术结局和随访情况。结果术前两组左心室舒张末内径(left ventricular diastolic diameter,LVDD)、射血分数(ejection fraction,EF)和心功能分级(New York Heart Association,NYHA)差异无统计学意义;MVP组手术方法采用彻底清除赘生物后,行瓣膜穿孔直接修补5例,心包修补5例,人工腱索5例(前叶3例,后叶2例),前叶三角形或楔形切除2例,后叶三角形或楔形切除9例,全组均植入二尖瓣成形环。MVR组植入机械瓣28例,生物瓣21例;手术后两组各死亡1例,MVP组死因呼吸衰竭,MVR组死因顽固性人工瓣心内膜炎;MVP组术中心脏复跳后经食道心脏超声(transesophageal echocardiography,TEE)显示15例无明显返流,3例轻度返流,1例轻中度返流,1例中度以上返流重新转流行MVR术;MVP组主动脉阻断时间长于MVR组(P<0.05);术后MVR组失访2例,共64例(MVP18例,MVR46例)进入随访,平均随访时间(41.5±25.6)个月,MVP组无二次手术,经胸超声心动图随访显示轻度返流4例,轻中度返流2例,中度返流1例;MVR组1例因瓣周漏二次手术,术后痊愈出院,余无死亡,无重大心血管事件。结论选择性应用MVP治疗IE所致的二尖瓣关闭不全手术安全可行,中远期疗效满意。     

Prevalence of mitral valve prolapse in keratoconus patients.

Fifty patients with advanced degrees of keratoconus, requiring corneal transplantation, were screened for mitral valve prolapse by two dimensional echocardiography. The overall prevalence of 58% was found to be statistically higher than the prevalence of 7% found in a group of age and sex-matched controls. It was also found to be higher than the previously reported prevalence of 38% in a group of keratoconus patients with similar age and sex match to our series. The findings of our study in conjunction with the histopathological and biochemical similarities between the two conditions strongly suggest that they may be different manifestations of similar defects in collagen metabolism.     

Uncertainty of incremental cost-effectiveness ratios. A comparison of Fieller and bootstrap confidence intervals

OBJECTIVE: To compare different methods to estimate the confidence interval of the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). METHODS: The adequacy of Fieller intervals and three methods for calculating bootstrap intervals are compared based on a simulation of 10,000 trials, using data from one trial. RESULTS: Both Fieller and bootstrap methods lead to unsatisfactory results when the difference in effectiveness is approximately zero. Where this difference is significant, the four methods for calculating confidence intervals for ICER do not give very different results, but Fieller's interval performs best. CONCLUSIONS: Since Fieller's confidence limits are relatively easy to compute compared with bootstrap simulations, we recommend using this method.