Kaitryn Campbell

Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Transurethral Resection of the Prostate Versus Minimally Invasive Procedures for the Treatment of Benign Prostatic Obstruction

Emerging minimally invasive procedures for the treatment of patients with benign prostatic obstruction may have advantages over transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP). We performed a systematic literature review and meta-analysis of randomized trials published upto April 2008 comparing TURP with photoselective vaporization, holmium laser ablation, and bipolar TURP. A total of 38 articles reporting results from 21 trials were included (photoselective vaporization = 3; holmium laser ablation = 1; bipolar TURP = 17). An assessment of perioperative and postoperative outcomes up to 12 months indicates benefits for these procedures. However, long-term follow-up and stronger methodological quality of the evidence is required to assess the long-term durability of the technologies.

A review of health utilities across conditions common in paediatric and adult populations.

BackgroundCost-utility analyses are commonly used in economic evaluations of interventions or conditions that have an impact on health-related quality of life. However, evaluating utilities in children presents several challenges since young children may not have the cognitive ability to complete measurement tasks and thus utility values must be estimated by proxy assessors. Another solution is to use utilities derived from an adult population. To better inform the future conduct of cost-utility analyses in paediatric populations, we reviewed the published literature reporting utilities among children and adults across selected conditions common to paediatric and adult populations.MethodsAn electronic search of Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library up to November 2008 was conducted to identify studies presenting utility values derived from the Health Utilities Index (HUI) or EuroQoL-5Dimensions (EQ-5D) questionnaires or using time trade off (TTO) or standard gamble (SG) techniques in children and/or adult populations from randomized controlled trials, comparative or non-comparative observational studies, or cross-sectional studies. The search was targeted to four chronic diseases/conditions common to both children and adults and known to have a negative impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL).ResultsAfter screening 951 citations identified from the literature search, 77 unique studies included in our review evaluated utilities in patients with asthma (n = 25), cancer (n = 23), diabetes mellitus (n = 11), skin diseases (n = 19) or chronic diseases (n = 2), with some studies evaluating multiple conditions. Utility values were estimated using HUI (n = 33), EQ-5D (n = 26), TTO (n = 12), and SG (n = 14), with some studies applying more than one technique to estimate utility values. 21% of studies evaluated utilities in children, of those the majority being in the area of oncology. No utility values for children were reported in skin diseases. Although few studies provided comparative information on utility values between children and adults, results seem to indicate that utilities may be similar in adolescents and young adults with asthma and acne. Differences in results were observed depending on methods and proxies.ConclusionsThis review highlights the need to conduct future research regarding measurement of utilities in children.

Safety of tissue expander/implant versus autologous abdominal tissue breast reconstruction in postmastectomy breast cancer patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Breast reconstruction after mastectomy for breast cancer should be informed by evidence-based knowledge, such as complication rates. The authors compared the safety of tissue expander/implant reconstruction with that of autologous abdominal tissue reconstruction. Methods: A systematic literature review identified peer-reviewed studies published from January of 2000 to October of 2012 that compared tissue expander/implant against autologous abdominal tissue reconstruction in the MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, PubMed, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses databases. Two reviewers independently screened all reports and selected the relevant articles using specific inclusion criteria. Data were extracted from the relevant articles using a standardized abstraction form. Results: Fourteen observational studies were identified that included more than 3000 reconstructed breasts. Significant differences were found between these two approaches. The relative risk associated with reconstructive failure favored autologous abdominal tissue (relative risk, 0.14; 95 percent CI, 0.06 to 0.32; I2 = 0 percent). Surgical-site infection was significantly lower in autologous abdominal tissue reconstruction compared with tissue expander/implant (relative risk, 0.37; 95 percent CI, 0.25 to 0.55; I2 = 0 percent), although skin or flap necrosis was higher in autologous abdominal tissue reconstruction compared with tissue expander/implant (relative risk, 2.79; 95 percent CI, 1.87 to 4.17). Studies were of low to moderate quality according to the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Conclusions: This study suggests that tissue expander/implant reconstruction has a higher risk of reconstructive failure and surgical-site infection compared with autologous abdominal tissue reconstruction. With the lack of long-term safety studies on different approaches to breast reconstruction, additional long-term comparative studies are needed to support evidence-based decision-making. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, III.

Cost-utility of Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIG) compared with corticosteroids for the treatment of Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP) in Canada.

ObjectivesIntravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) has demonstrated improvement in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) patients in placebo controlled trials. However, IVIG is also much more expensive than alternative treatments such as corticosteroids. The objective of the paper is to evaluate, from a Canadian perspective, the cost-effectiveness of IVIG compared to corticosteroid treatment of CIDP.MethodsA markov model was used to evaluate the costs and QALYs for IVIG and corticosteroids over 5 years of treatment for CIDP. Patients initially responding to IVIG could remain a responder or relapse every 12 week model cycle. Non-responding IVIG patients were assumed to be switched to corticosteroids. Patients on corticosteroids were at risk of a number of adverse events (fracture, diabetes, glaucoma, cataract, serious infection) in each cycle.ResultsOver the 5 year time horizon, the model estimated the incremental costs and QALYs of IVIG treatment compared to corticosteroid treatment to be

Canadian cost-utility analysis of initiation and maintenance treatment with anti-TNF-α drugs for refractory Crohn's disease

124,065 and 0.177 respectively. The incremental cost per QALY gained of IVIG was estimated to be

Methodological guidance documents for evaluation of ethical considerations in health technology assessment: a systematic review

687,287. The cost per QALY of IVIG was sensitive to the assumptions regarding frequency and dosing of maintenance IVIG.ConclusionsBased on common willingness to pay thresholds, IVIG would not be perceived as a cost effective treatment for CIDP.

Systematic review on the patient-reported outcomes of tissue-expander/implant vs autologous abdominal tissue breast reconstruction in postmastectomy breast cancer patients.

OBJECTIVES Crohns disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms include but are not limited to abdominal pain, nausea, emesis, and diarrhea. Anti-TNF-α drugs are increasingly being used in patients with CD who have inadequate response to conventional therapy. However, these medications are quite expensive. The objective of this study is to evaluate the cost-utility of two anti-TNF-α drugs (infliximab, adalimumab) for refractory CD. METHODS A Markov model was used to estimate the costs and QALYs of three treatments (usual care, infliximab, adalimumab) over a 5 year time horizon. After initial treatment, patients achieve remission, achieve treatment response or remain in the drug refractory health state. Patients who achieve remission or treatment response are at risk of relapse each 3 month model cycle. Patients in the drug refractory health state either remain in the health state or have surgery in each cycle. Different costs and utility values were assigned to the various model health states. Model input parameters including initial response rates, relapse rates, utility values were derived from published literature. RESULTS Usual care had both the lowest expected costs (

Harmonization of reimbursement and regulatory approval processes: a systematic review of international experiences

17,017) and QALYs (2.555), while infliximab had both the highest expected costs (

Effects of study design and trends for EVAR versus OSR

54,084) and QALYs (2.721). The incremental cost per QALY moving from usual care to adalimumab and from adalimumab to infliximab was estimated to be to be

Results of a model analysis to estimate cost utility and value of information for intravenous immunoglobulin in Canadian adults with chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura.

193,305 and