Abstract 1: Impact of Predicted Bleeding Risk on the Cost-Effectiveness of Direct Thrombin Inhibition vs. Heparin Monotherapy for Patients Undergoing PCI

Introduction Direct thrombin inhibitors (DTI) reduce bleeding and are cost-saving in patients (pts) undergoing PCI when compared to unfractionated heparin (UFH) plus routine glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibition (GPI). Little is known about the cost-effectiveness of DTI alone vs. UFH alone, however. Methods We combined data on patient-level bleeding risk with several external data sources to estimate the economic impact of substituting DTI for UFH among unselected PCI patients. We used a validated model to predict the risk of major bleeding for 81,628 NCDR® CathPCI Registry® patients who received UFH only in 2004-06. DTI costs were estimated based on current FDA dosing guidelines and acquisition costs. The cost of major bleeding ($8722) was estimated based on data from the Mid America Heart Institute. The benefit of DTI vs. UFH alone was based on bleeding risk reduction from ISAR-REACT 3. A Markov model based on published data was used to estimate the loss in life expectancy associated with major bleeding. Res...