Cost-effectiveness of CT perfusion for the detection of large vessel occlusion acute ischemic stroke followed by endovascular treatment: a model-based health economic evaluation study

Objectives: CT perfusion (CTP) has been suggested to increase the rate of large vessel occlusion (LVO) detection in patients suspected of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) if used in addition to a standard diagnostic imaging regime of CT angiography (CTA) and non-contrast CT (NCCT). The aim of this study was to estimate the costs and health effects of additional CTP for endovascular treatment (EVT)–eligible occlusion detection using model-based analyses.

Methods: In this Dutch, nationwide retrospective cohort study with model-based health economic evaluation, data from 701 EVT-treated patients with available CTP results were included (January 2018–March 2022; trialregister.nl:NL7974). We compared a cohort undergoing NCCT, CTA, and CTP (NCCT + CTA + CTP) with a generated counterfactual where NCCT and CTA (NCCT + CTA) was used for LVO detection. The NCCT + CTA strategy was simulated using diagnostic accuracy values and EVT effects from the literature. A Markov model was used to simulate 10-year follow-up. We adopted a healthcare payer perspective for costs in euros and health gains in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). The primary outcome was the net monetary benefit (NMB) at a willingness to pay of €80,000; secondary outcomes were the difference between LVO detection strategies in QALYs (ΔQALY) and costs (ΔCosts) per LVO patient.

Results: We included 701 patients (median age: 72, IQR: [62–81]) years). Per LVO patient, CTP-based occlusion detection resulted in cost savings (ΔCosts median: € − 2671, IQR: [€ − 4721; € − 731]), a health gain (ΔQALY median: 0.073, IQR: [0.044; 0.104]), and a positive NMB (median: €8436, IQR: [5565; 11,876]) per LVO patient.

Conclusion: CTP-based screening of suspected stroke patients for an endovascular treatment eligible large vessel occlusion was cost-effective.

Clinical relevance statement.: Although CTP-based patient selection for endovascular treatment has been recently suggested to result in worse patient outcomes after ischemic stroke, an alternative CTP-based screening for endovascular treatable occlusions is cost-effective.

Key Points: • Using CT perfusion to detect an endovascular treatment-eligible occlusions resulted in a health gain and cost savings during 10 years of follow-up. • Depending on the screening costs related to the number of patients needed to image with CT perfusion, cost savings could be considerable (median: € − 3857, IQR: [€ − 5907; € − 1916] per patient). • As the gain in quality adjusted life years was most affected by the sensitivity of CT perfusion-based occlusion detection, additional studies for the diagnostic accuracy of CT perfusion for occlusion detection are required.