Wang Rongzhi, Mennemeyer Stephen, Xie Rongbing, Reed Rhiannon D, McMullin Jessica Liu, Gillis Andrea, Fazendin Jessica, Lindeman Brenessa, Locke Jayme E, Chen Herbert
Department of Surgery, Heersink School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL.
School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL.
Surgery. 2025 Jan;177:108862. doi: 10.1016/j.surg.2024.05.059. Epub 2024 Oct 18.
Parathyroidectomy is the definitive treatment for tertiary hyperparathyroidism post-kidney transplantation. However, cinacalcet-based medical management is increasingly used as an alternative. The financial consequences of each treatment remain unclear. We aimed to identify the most cost-effective strategy for managing hyperparathyroidism from the kidney transplantation recipient's perspective.
We constructed a patient-level discrete event simulation model to compare parathyroidectomy and cinacalcet-based medical management. The effects of hyperparathyroidism on allograft survival and all-cause mortality were considered in the discrete event simulation model with a time horizon of 15 years. Our base case was a 55-year-old kidney transplantation recipient with persistent hyperparathyroidism and hypercalcemia. The primary outcome was the cost-effectiveness measured by cost per quality-adjusted life years.
The monthly out-of-pocket cost of cinacalcet ranged from $12 to $288, depending on insurance coverage, with a base case cost of $150. Our base case analysis showed that parathyroidectomy was the dominant treatment with lesser cost ($1,315 vs $7,147) and greater effectiveness (3.17 quality-adjusted life years and 2.92 quality-adjusted life years) than cinacalcet. One-way sensitivity analysis on the cinacalcet treatment duration showed that parathyroidectomy became more cost-effective at 9 months. Two-way sensitivity analysis on the cost of cinacalcet and the duration of treatment with cinacalcet showed that as the monthly cost of cinacalcet increases, the expense of cinacalcet-based medical management quickly exceeds the cost of parathyroidectomy.
Parathyroidectomy becomes more cost-effective for kidney transplantation recipients with tertiary hyperparathyroidism when they require cinacalcet-based medical management for more than 9 months. As part of shared decision-making, it is important to discuss the financial costs involved in treating tertiary hyperparathyroidism.
