Economic evaluation of first-line cryoballoon ablation versus antiarrhythmic drug therapy for the treatment of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation from an English National Health Service perspective

• Published in: Open heart Vol. 11; no. 1; p. e002423
• Main Authors: Paisey, John, Moss, Joe, Andrade, Jason, Kuniss, Malte, Wazni, Oussama, Chierchia, Gian Battista, Mealing, Stuart, Ismyrloglou, Eleni, Sale, Alicia, Souter, Maxim, Kaplon, Rachelle, Bromilow, Tom, Lane, Emily, Lewis, Damian, Todd, Derick
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England British Cardiovascular Society 18.01.2024; BMJ Publishing Group LTD; BMJ Publishing Group
• Series: Original research
• Subjects: Ablation; ablation techniques; Anti-Arrhythmia Agents - adverse effects; Antiarrhythmics; atrial fibrillation; Atrial Fibrillation - diagnosis; Atrial Fibrillation - drug therapy; Atrial Fibrillation - surgery; Cardiac arrhythmia; Cardioversion; Catheters; Clinical trials; Cost analysis; Cost-Benefit Analysis; Cryosurgery - adverse effects; Cryosurgery - methods; Decision trees; Drug therapy; Economic models; Health Care Delivery, Economics and Global Health Care; health care economics and organizations; Health services; Humans; Markov chains; Medical instruments; Patients; Pharmaceuticals; Sensitivity analysis; State Medicine; Statistical analysis; United Kingdom > UK; atrial fibrillation; health care economics and organizations; ablation techniques
• ISSN: 2053-3624; 2398-595X; 2053-3624
• DOI: 10.1136/openhrt-2023-002423

IntroductionThree recent randomised controlled trials have demonstrated that pulmonary vein isolation as an initial rhythm control strategy with cryoablation reduces atrial arrhythmia recurrence in patients with symptomatic paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) compared with antiarrhythmic drug (AAD) therapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of first-line cryoablation compared with first-line AADs for treating symptomatic PAF in an English National Health Service (NHS) setting.MethodsIndividual patient-level data from 703 participants with PAF enrolled into Cryo-FIRST (Catheter Cryoablation Versus Antiarrhythmic Drug as First-Line Therapy of Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation), STOP AF First (Cryoballoon Catheter Ablation in an Antiarrhythmic Drug Naive Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation) and EARLY-AF (Early Aggressive Invasive Intervention for Atrial Fibrillation) were used to derive the parameters applied in the cost-effectiveness model (CEM). The CEM comprised a hybrid decision tree and Markov structure. The decision tree had a 1-year time horizon and was used to inform the initial health state allocation in the first cycle of the Markov model (40-year time horizon; 3-month cycle length). Health benefits were expressed in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). Costs and benefits were discounted at 3.5% per year. Model outcomes were generated using probabilistic sensitivity analysis.ResultsThe results estimated that cryoablation would yield more QALYs (+0.17) and higher costs (+£641) per patient over a lifetime than AADs. This produced an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of £3783 per QALY gained. Independent of initial treatment, individuals were expected to receive ~1.2 ablations over a lifetime. There was a 45% relative reduction in time spent in AF health states for those initially treated with cryoablation.DiscussionAF rhythm control with first-line cryoablation is cost effective compared with first-line AADs in an English NHS setting.