Importance: Two 2018 randomized controlled trials (DAWN and DEFUSE 3) demonstrated the clinical benefit of mechanical thrombectomy (MT) more than 6 hours after onset in acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Health-economic evidence is needed to determine whether the short-term health benefits of late MT translate to a cost-effective option during a lifetime in the United States.
Objective: To compare the cost-effectiveness of 2 strategies (MT added to standard medical care [SMC] vs SMC alone) for various subgroups of patients with AIS receiving care more than 6 hours after symptom onset.
Design, setting, and participants: This economic evaluation study used the results of the DAWN and DEFUSE 3 trials to populate a cost-effectiveness model from a US health care perspective combining a decision tree and Markov trace. The DAWN and DEFUSE 3 trials enrolled 206 international patients from 2014 to 2017 and 182 US patients from 2016 to 2017, respectively. Patients were followed until 3 months after stroke. The clinical outcome at 3 months was available for 29 subgroups of patients with AIS and anterior circulation large vessel occlusions. Data analysis was conducted from July 2018 to October 2019.
Exposures: MT with SMC in the extended treatment window vs SMC alone.
Main outcomes and measures: Expected costs and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) during lifetime were estimated. Deterministic results (incremental costs and effectiveness, incremental cost-effectiveness ratios, and net monetary benefit) were presented, and probabilistic analyses were performed for the total populations and 27 patient subgroups.
Results: In the DAWN study, the MT group had a mean (SD) age of 69.4 (14.1) years and 42 of 107 (39.3%) were men, and the control group had a mean (SD) age of 70.7 (13.2) years and 51 of 99 (51.5%) were men. In the DEFUSE 3 study, the MT group had a median (interquartile range) age of 70 (59-79) years, and 46 of 92 (50.0%) were men, and the control group had a median (interquartile range) age of 71 (59-80) years, and 44 of 90 (48.9%) were men. For the total trial population, incremental cost-effectiveness ratios were $662/QALY and $13 877/QALY based on the DAWN and DEFUSE 3 trials, respectively. MT with SMC beyond 6 hours had a probability greater than 99.9% of being cost-effective vs SMC alone at a willingness-to-pay threshold of $100 000/QALY. Subgroup analyses showed a wide range of probabilities for MT with SMC to be cost-effective at a willingness-to-pay threshold of $50 000/QALY, with the greatest uncertainty observed for patients with a National Institute of Health Stroke Scale score of at least 16 and for those aged 80 years or older.
Conclusions and relevance: The results of this study suggest that late MT added to SMC is cost-effective in all subgroups evaluated in the DAWN and DEFUSE 3 trials, with most results being robust in probabilistic sensitivity analyses. Future MT evidence-gathering could focus on older patients and those with National Institute of Health Stroke Scale scores of 16 and greater.