Cost comparison of endovascular treatment of anterior circulation aneurysms with the pipeline embolization device and stent-assisted coiling.

BACKGROUND

The Pipeline embolization device (PED) is a new endovascular option for wide-necked or fusiform anterior circulation aneurysms that were classically treated by coil embolization with adjunctive use of a stent. However, stent-coiling incurs significant equipment and implant costs.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether PED embolization is more economical than stent-assisted coiling.

METHODS

Sixty consecutive patients with anterior circulation aneurysms who underwent treatment with the PED (30 patients) or by single-stage stent-assisted coiling (30 patients) were identified from a prospective single-center aneurysm database. The hospital costs of equipment and implants were analyzed and compared for each group.

RESULTS

The mean aneurysm size for patients treated with the PED was 9.8 vs 7.3 mm for patients treated by stent-assisted coiling. The total combined costs of proximal access/guide catheters, microcatheters, and microwires were equivalent between the 2 groups. The cost of implants, however, was significantly lower in the PED group ($13175 ± 726 vs $19069 ± 2015; P = .013), despite this group having a larger mean aneurysm size. Furthermore, the total procedure cost was significantly lower for the PED group vs the stent-coiling group ($16445 ± 735 vs $22145 ± 2022; P = .02), a 25.7% cost reduction. This represents a 27.1% reduction in the cost per millimeter of aneurysm treated in the PED group ($2261 ± 299) vs the stent-coiling group ($3102 ± 193; P = .02).

CONCLUSION

Treatment of anterior circulation aneurysms by flow diversion with the PED has lower procedure costs compared with treatment with traditional stent-assisted coiling.