HOLLYWOOD, Fla., Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Devices that repair the largest blood vessel in the body appear to be worth their cost by improving patients outcomes, researchers said this week.
The endografts can cost as much as $13,200, but by using them in minimally invasive surgery, the risk of deadly complications is greatly reduced, according to Bruce Perler, professor of surgery and chief of the Division of Vascular Surgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore.
He cited several studies that showed use of the endograft -- a graft delivered through the blood vessel by catheters -- reduced mortality to single digits, while the open surgery resulted in a 20-percent to 30-percent mortality decrease within 30 days.
The endograft procedures -- called thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) -- also reduces mortality, morbidity, length of stay in the hospital, as well as resource utilization, Perler reported at the International Symposium on Endovascular Therapy.
"The cost of endografts is balanced by reduction in resource utilization and associated costs and justified by improvement in patient outcome," said Perler.
There are 15,000 to 25,000 thoracic aortic aneurysms diagnosed a year, with approximately 18,000 repaired.
Perler also looked at the costs for the procedures. He cited a European study that found the average cost for the thoracic endovascular aortic repair to be about $26,907 -- which included the cost of the device, about $13,500. In contrast, open surgery averaged around $43,976.
