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European Heart Journal Advance Access originally published online on October 10, 2006
European Heart Journal 2007 28(4):388-391; doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehl311
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© The European Society of Cardiology 2007. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

The high cost of implantable defibrillators

Mark A. Hlatky1,* and Daniel B. Mark2

1 Stanford University School of Medicine, HRP Redwood Building, Room 150, Stanford, CA 94305-5405, USA
2 Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA

Received 13 September 2006; accepted 21 September 2006; online publish-ahead-of-print 10 October 2006.

* Corresponding author. Tel: +1 650 723 6426; fax: +1 650 725 6951. E-mail address: hlatky{at}stanford.edu

See page 386 for the editorial comment on this article (doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehl518)

Abstract

Increased use of ICDs in patients with cardiac disease has the potential to strain national health care budgets because of the large numbers of eligible patients and the high cost of the ICDs. Randomized trials show ICDs increase life-expectancy in some groups of patients and also increase total medical costs significantly. ICDs exemplify the role of new technology as the main force behind rising health care costs. ICDs have not been used in all eligible patients, in part because of cost, but also because of patient resistance and a shortage of specialists able to implant and manage complex ICDs. The cost-effectiveness of ICDs would be improved by development of simpler and cheaper devices, and by better tools to identify patients who benefit from an ICD.

Key Words: Cost-effectiveness • Implantable defibrillator • Sudden death


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Related articles in EHJ:

The cost of implantable defibrillators: how the perception of reality depends on perspective
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EHJ 2007 28: 386-387. [Extract] [FREE Full Text]  



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The cost of implantable defibrillators: how the perception of reality depends on perspective
Eur. Heart J., February 2, 2007; 28(4): 386 - 387.
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