Economic Evaluation of Left Ventricular Assist Devices for Patients With End Stage Heart Failure Who Are Ineligible for Cardiac Transplantation

Background: Continuous flow (CF) left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) improve survival in end-stage heart failure patients who are ineligible for cardiac transplantation. Their use in this population (referred to as destination therapy) is increasing in many countries, yet they are not routinely funded for this indication in Canada. We assessed the cost-effectiveness of destination therapy CF-LVADs from the perspective of the Canadian health care payer.

Methods: A Markov model was used to project the outcomes and costs of 2 treatment pathways, CF-LVAD implantation and medical management alone, in an end-stage heart failure patient cohort ineligible for transplantation. Clinical and cost input estimates were informed from the available literature. Model outcomes included costs (in 2015 Canadian dollars), quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), and the cost per QALY gained.

Results: Compared with medical management, CF-LVAD patients had higher costs ($284,287 vs $31,984) and QALYs (1.48 vs 0.39) over a lifetime horizon. The incremental cost per QALY gained was $230,692. The model was most sensitive to device implantation costs, and the clinical effectiveness of CF-LVADs on survival and quality of life. A scenario analysis using contemporary survival data resulted in a cost per QALY gained of $125,936. When applying contemporary LVAD survival trends, the model showed that the cost of initial LVAD implantation needed to be less than $123,000 to be considered cost-effective.

Conclusions: The incremental cost per QALY for destination therapy CF-LVADs is predicted to be above usual thresholds for funding in Canada. In some plausible scenarios, its cost-effectiveness is similar to dialysis for kidney failure, a therapy that is also immediately life-saving. Because of this, there will be likely ongoing pressure to fund CF-LVADs for a subset of patients ineligible for transplantation.