Incremental cost-effectiveness of laser therapy for choroidal neovascularization associated with histoplasmosis

Purpose: Laser photocoagulation has been shown in a large clinical trial to be efficacious in reducing the degree of vision loss occurring secondary t o choroidal neovascularization (CNV) associated with ocular histoplasmosis. Nevertheless, data are lacking concerning the impact of the therapy on qua lity of life and its value to stakeholders in health care. Recently, inform ation concerning the utility value of visual states has become available. A ccordingly, the authors undertook to ascertain the cost-effectiveness of la ser photocoagulation for the treatment of extrafoveal CNV occurring in eyes with ocular histoplasmosis. Methods: Design -A computer simulation, econometric model is presented to e valuate the incremental cost-effectiveness of laser photocoagulation therap y, as compared with the natural course of the disease, for the treatment of patients with extrafoveal CNV associated with ocular histoplasmosis. The m odel applies long-term visual data from previous clinical trials, utility a nalysis (which reflects patient perceptions of quality of life), decision a nalysis with Markov modeling, and present value analysis with discounting t o account for the time value of money. Outcome measure-Cost per quality-adj usted life-year gained from treatment. Results: Laser photocoagulation therapy for extrafoveal CNV associated with ocular histoplasmosis costs $4167 1999 US dollars (at a 3% discount rate) for each quality-adjusted life-year gained from treatment. Sensitivity anal ysis shows that changing the discount rare substantially alters the cost-ef fectiveness, with a value of $1339 at a 0% discount rate and $56,250 at a 1 0% discount rate. Conclusions: Compared with therapeutic modalities for other disease entitie s, laser therapy for the treatment of extrafoveal CNV associated with ocula r histoplasmosis appears to be a cost-effective treatment from the patient preference-based point of view.