Source
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112, USA.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS:
To study the cost effectiveness of positron emission tomography-computerized tomography (PET-CT) scanning in the management of the neck after chemoradiotherapy (CRT).
STUDY DESIGN:
Cost effectiveness and decision analysis model.
METHODS:
A cost-effectiveness analysis comparing up-front neck dissection to serial PET-CT imaging in a hypothetical clinical scenario of debate. A patient with an oropharygeal cancer with pretreatment N2 disease having a complete response was considered. Standardized costs were obtained using national databases. A literature review in PubMed was performed to obtain information on incidence, probabilities, and range for various clinical events in the algorithm.
RESULTS:
PET-CT strategy costs an average of $14,492 per patient. Neck dissection had a 0.6% greater efficacy in controlling neck disease with a $22,433 incremental cost.
CONCLUSIONS:
Our results strongly support the use of PET-CT imaging as the more cost-effective strategy for surveillance of neck after completion of definitive CRT compared to up-front neck dissection.
Copyright © 2012 The American Laryngological, Rhinological, and Otological Society, Inc.