Financial impact of a novel pre-eclampsia diagnostic test versus standard practice: a decision-analytic modeling analysis from a UK healthcare payer perspective.

AbstractObjective:Pre-eclampsia (PE), a leading cause of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality, is only detected after symptomatic onset. Early diagnosis may be possible with a new serum test, with resulting clinical and economic benefits versus standard practice. The authors evaluated the financial impact to the UK National Health Service (NHS).Methods:A decision-analytic model was developed in which a cohort of 1,000 pregnant women receiving UK obstetric care was simulated. The economic impact of improved sensitivity and specificity of the novel PE test [Roche Diagnostics, Rotkreuz, Switzerland] over current diagnostic practice was modeled. While there is no specific approved diagnostic test to detect PE, physicians are using a combination of tests including blood pressure, proteinuria, Doppler, serum uric acid, etc. The novel PE test constitutes two novel biomarkers Placenta Growth Factor (PlGF) and soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1) which can be quantitatively analyzed using an autom...