The cost of coils implanted in aneurysms: 2 years of clinical data.

OBJECTIVE

A study on factors of material costs in endovascular coil embolization has not been previously reported. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of aneurysm size and other factors on implanted coil costs.

METHODS

Implanted coil costs were retrospectively obtained for all 387 consecutive aneurysm coiling procedures of saccular aneurysms performed in 342 patients over 2.5 years at the Cleveland Clinic. ANOVA and least squares linear regression were utilized to examine relationships.

RESULTS

Linear regression analysis showed a significant relationship between log volume and log cost (p<0.0001). The fit relationship can be represented as normalized cost=1.6×volume(0.36). Other factors (aneurysm geometry, recurrent vs primary, vendor/coil choice, procedure dates) were not shown to be significant at the p<0.05 level.

CONCLUSIONS

The costs associated with the coils implanted in an aneurysm vary in a predictable fashion as a function of aneurysm volume, suggesting that coiling costs can be modeled prior to actual embolization of a lesion and may be useful in refining the reimbursement models for endovascular aneurysm treatment.