|
| HOME | SUBSCRIPTIONS | CURRENT ISSUE | PAST ISSUES | CARDIOSOURCE | SEARCH | HELP | FEEDBACK |
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||||
|
J Am Coll Cardiol, 1992; 19:1583-1587 © 1992 by the American College of Cardiology Foundation |
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor.
The purpose of this study was to determine the charges for radiofrequency catheter modification of the atrioventricular (AV) node in 15 patients with symptomatic AV node reentrant tachycardia despite pharmacologic therapy and to compare these charges with the estimated charges for health care utilization by the same patients before the catheter procedure was performed. There were seven men and eight women with a mean age of 50 +/- 17 years. The mean duration and frequency of symptoms were 16 +/- 9 years and 4.5 +/- 6 episodes/month, respectively. Fourteen of the 15 patients required only one procedure for diagnosis and cure of AV node reentrant tachycardia and 1 patient required two sessions. All patients underwent electrophysiologic study before discharge from the hospital to confirm the short-term efficacy of the procedure. The mean duration of the hospital stay was 3 +/- 1.5 days and the mean total charge/patient expressed in 1991 dollars was $15,893 +/- $3,338 for catheter modification. These total charges consisted of hospital charges of $8,105 +/- $2,466 and physician charges of $7,788 +/- $971. All patients had a successful outcome and required no additional antiarrhythmic therapy. The estimated cost of health care utilization for these 15 patients before cure of AV node reentrant tachycardia was $7,651/patient per year. These estimated costs included charges incurred for emergency room visits, office visits, hospitalizations and antiarrhythmic drug therapy. In conclusion, the results of this study indicate that the annual health care costs incurred by patients who have symptomatic, drug-refractory paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia caused by AV node reentry are substantial.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  S. Viskin, R. Fish, A. Glick, M. Glikson, M. Eldar, and B. Belhassen The adenosine triphosphate test: a bedside diagnostic tool for identifying the mechanism of supraventricular tachycardia in patients with palpitations J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., July 1, 2001; 38(1): 173 - 177. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 C. H.F. Cheng, G. D. Sanders, M. A. Hlatky, P. Heidenreich, K. M. McDonald, B. K. Lee, M. S. Larson, and D. K. Owens Cost-Effectiveness of Radiofrequency Ablation for Supraventricular Tachycardia Ann Intern Med, December 5, 2000; 133(11): 864 - 876. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 F. Morady Radio-Frequency Ablation as Treatment for Cardiac Arrhythmias N. Engl. J. Med., February 18, 1999; 340(7): 534 - 544. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. N. Bathina, S. Mickelsen, C. Brooks, J. Jaramillo, T. Hepton, and F. M. Kusumoto Safety and efficacy of hydrogen peroxide plasma sterilization for repeated use of electrophysiology catheters J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., November 1, 1998; 32(5): 1384 - 1388. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 P. Kovoor, M. Ricciardello, L. Collins, J. B. Uther, and D. L. Ross Risk to Patients From Radiation Associated With Radiofrequency Ablation for Supraventricular Tachycardia Circulation, October 13, 1998; 98(15): 1534 - 1540. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. A. Hlatky and W. K. Vaughn Quality of Life in Patients With Supraventricular Arrhythmia Circulation, October 1, 1996; 94(7): 1491 - 1493. [Full Text]
|
|
|
|
|
|
L. I. Ganz and P. L. Friedman Supraventricular Tachycardia N. Engl. J. Med., January 19, 1995; 332(3): 162 - 173. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
| HOME | SUBSCRIPTIONS | CURRENT ISSUE | PAST ISSUES | CARDIOSOURCE | SEARCH | HELP | FEEDBACK |
