Cost-effective treatment of coronary artery disease--the new imperative.
Large lipid-lowering clinical trials have demonstrated a significant reduction in cardiovascular events and the need for cardiovascular procedures. These clinical and point trials used relatively weak treatment modalities, and when the cost savings of the reduced number of events is balanced against the estimated cost of treatment, the average difference is approximately $1,500 per patient per year. Arteriographic trials have used similar or more aggressive lipoprotein therapy over shorter periods of time. Estimates of cost savings from reduced clinical events balanced against the cost of treatment in these studies indicate a wide spectrum of estimated patient costs. These estimates range between a cost of $2,273 per patient per year to a cost savings of (-)$901 per patient per year. Extrapolation to the United States population with coronary artery disease (CAD) suggests that greater than one billion dollars per year could be saved if patients with CAD received similar treatment and responded in a similar manner.
Superko
H R
HR
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, USA.
D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000191:economics* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy*; D017046:Cost Savings; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D006801:Humans; D006949:Hyperlipidemias / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy
D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL