Aims The aim of the present study is to estimate the procedure
(implantation) cost, the total hospitalization cost and annual follow-up
cost, in patients subjected to pacemaker (PM) and implantable
cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implantation.
Methods and results A single-center, prospective, cost-of-illness study
was conducted between August 2008 and July 2009. In total, 464
consecutive patients were recruited (370 were subjected to PM
implantation and 94 to ICD implantation). Resource data were assessed at
patients’ enrolment in the study and at 6th and 12th months of patients’
follow-up. Then, the procedure cost, the total hospitalization cost as
well as the annual patients’ follow up costs were calculated using a
bottom-up approach. The mean (95% confidence interval) procedure cost
of PM and ICD implantation (including the costs of devices, electrodes,
other supplies, and personnel’s time) was calculated to be (sic)1803
((sic)1758-(sic)1858) and (sic)13 521 ((sic)13 153-(sic)13 892),
respectively. The mean total hospitalization cost (including procedure
cost, hospitalization cost, cost of laboratory and imaging diagnostic
examinations and the indirect cost attributed to productivity lost due
to patient’s hospitalization) was (sic)3926 ((sic)3711-(sic)4167) for PM
and (sic)17 764 ((sic)16 852-(sic)18 692) for ICD. The mean annual cost
(direct and indirect) was (sic)1816 ((sic)1433-(sic)2421) for PM and
(sic)2819 ((sic)2115-(sic)3703) for ICD. No difference was detected in
the annual cost between patients with initial implantation and
replacement.
Conclusion These data revealed that although these devices are
associated with a relatively high upfront cost, the annual societal cost
following the implantation is low. Therefore, implantation of such
devices should be encouraged since these devices reduce the morbidity
and mortality without a high economic burden to society