Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is an acute neuropathy and a clinical syndrome that includes a number of pathological and electrophysiological subtypes. Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and plasma exchange (PE) are both equally efficacious for the treatment of GBS; however, the cost of IVIG may be lower for both the patient and the healthcare system. To compare the pharmacoeconomics of PE and IV...

BACKGROUND Ivabradine is a heart rate-lowering agent approved to reduce the risk of hospitalization for worsening heart failure. This study assessed the cost-effectiveness of adding ivabradine to background therapy in the United States from the perspective of a commercial or Medicare Advantage payer. METHODS AND RESULTS A cost-effectiveness, cohort-based Markov model using a state transition ...

BACKGROUND Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a costly morbidity in very low birth weight (VLBW; <1,500 g birth weight) infants that increases hospital length of stay and requires expensive treatments. OBJECTIVES To evaluate the cost of NEC as a function of dose and exposure period of human milk (HM) feedings received by VLBW infants during the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) hospitalizat...

OBJECTIVES Although bronchiolitis is the leading cause of hospitalization for infants, there are limited data describing the epidemiology of bronchiolitis hospitalizations, and the associated cost is unknown. Our objective was to determine nationally representative estimates of the frequency of bronchiolitis hospitalizations and its associated costs. PATIENTS AND METHODS We analyzed the 2002 ...

OBJECTIVE To conduct an economic analysis of the Hlabisa community-based directly observed therapy management strategy for tuberculosis and to project costs of three alternative strategies. SETTING Hlabisa health district, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. METHODS An economic analysis comparing the current tuberculosis management strategy in Hlabisa with three alternative strategies (the Hlabisa...

BACKGROUND Schizophrenia is a severe, chronic, and costly illness that adversely impacts patients' lives and health care payer budgets. Cost comparisons of treatment regimens are, therefore, important to health care payers and researchers. Pre-Post analyses ("mirror-image"), where outcomes prior to a medication switch are compared to outcomes post-switch, are commonly used in such research. How...

BACKGROUND Persons with concomitant heart failure (HF) and diabetes mellitus constitute a growing population whose quality of life is encumbered with worse clinical outcomes as well as high health resource use (HRU) and costs. METHODS AND RESULTS Extensive data on HRU and costs were collected as part of a prospective cost-effectiveness analysis of a self-care intervention to improve outcomes ...

BACKGROUND The 3D laparoscopy systems and robotic systems have been introduced into clinical practice for a few years. But the comparison of robotic and 3D laparoscopic gynecologic surgery is still needed. OBJECTIVE To retrospectively compare the learning curves of robotic and 3D laparoscopic hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy in cervical cancer. STUDY DESIGN The operational duration, ...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the number of hospitalizations attributable to diabetes mellitus (DM) and its complications within the public healthcare system in Brazil (SUS) and the mean cost paid per hospitalization. METHODS The official database from the Hospital Information System of the Unified Health System (SIH/SUS) was consulted from 2008 to 2010. The proportion of hospitalizations attributabl...