Cost of thoracic endovascular aortic repair versus open repair and implications for the US health care system.

摘要

Following the 2005 FDA approval of the TAG endograft (W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc, Flagstaff, Ariz), thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) utilization increased dramatically. The clinical trial leading to approval of the Gore-TAG thoracic stent graft demonstrated beneficial effects for early morbidity and mortality, with similar long-term survival compared with open repair. However, there remains a paucity of data comparing the costs of TEVAR versus open repair. This study compared hospital costs and physician relative value units (RVUs) between TEVAR and open repair at a US academic institution.