Cost-effectiveness of dual-chamber pacing compared with ventricular pacing for sinus node dysfunction.
BACKGROUND
Compared with single-chamber ventricular pacing, dual-chamber pacing can reduce adverse events and, as a result, improve quality of life in patients paced for sick sinus syndrome. It is not clear, however, how these benefits compare with the increased cost of dual-chamber pacemakers.


RESULTS
We used 4-year data from a 2010-patient, randomized trial to estimate the incremental cost-effectiveness of dual-chamber pacing compared with ventricular pacing and then projected these findings over the patients' lifetimes by using a Markov model that was calibrated to the first 5 years of in-trial data. To assess the stability of the findings, we performed 1000 bootstrap analyses and multiple sensitivity analyses. During the first 4 years of the trial, dual-chamber pacemakers increased quality-adjusted life expectancy by 0.013 year per subject at an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of 53,000 dollars per quality-adjusted year of life gained. Over a lifetime, dual-chamber pacing was projected to increase quality-adjusted life expectancy by 0.14 year with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of approximately 6800 dollars per quality-adjusted year of life gained. In bootstrap analyses, dual-chamber pacing was cost-effective in 91.9% of simulations at a threshold of 50,000 dollars per quality-adjusted year of life and in 93.2% of simulations at a threshold of 100,000 dollars. Its cost-effectiveness ratio was also below this threshold in numerous sensitivity analyses that varied key estimates.


CONCLUSIONS
For patients with sick sinus syndrome requiring pacing, dual-chamber pacing increases quality-adjusted life expectancy at a cost that is generally considered acceptable.
Rinfret
Stéphane
S
Department of Medicine, Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM), University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada.
Cohen
David J
DJ
Lamas
Gervasio A
GA
Fleischmann
Kirsten E
KE
Weinstein
Milton C
MC
Orav
John
J
Schron
Eleanor
E
Lee
Kerry L
KL
Goldman
Lee
L
D000368:Aged; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000453:epidemiology; D002304:Cardiac Pacing, Artificial / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D005260:Female; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008390:Markov Chains; D009026:Mortality; D011788:Quality of Life; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012804:Sick Sinus Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D012849:Sinoatrial Node / Q000503:physiopathology; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome