Cost-effectiveness of endoscopic surveillance of non-dysplastic Barrett's esophagus.

BACKGROUND: Endoscopic surveillance for non-dysplastic Barrett's esophagus (BE) is contentious and its cost effectiveness unclear.

OBJECTIVE: To perform an economic analysis of endoscopic surveillance strategies.

DESIGN: Cost-utility analysis by using a simulation Markov model to synthesize evidence from large epidemiologic studies and clinical data for surveillance, based on international guidelines, applied in a coordinator-managed surveillance program.

SETTING: Tertiary care hospital, South Australia.

PATIENTS: A total of 2040 patient-years of follow-up.

INTERVENTION: (1) No surveillance, (2) 2-yearly endoscopic surveillance of patients with non-dysplastic BE and 6-monthly surveillance of patients with low-grade dysplasia, (3) a hypothetical strategy of biomarker-modified surveillance.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: U.S. cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) ratios.

RESULTS: Compared with no surveillance, surveillance produced an estimated incremental cost per QALY ratio of $60,858. This was reduced to $38,307 when surveillance practice was modified by a hypothetical biomarker-based strategy. Sensitivity analyses indicated that the likelihood that surveillance alone was cost-effective compared with no surveillance was 16.0% and 60.6% if a hypothetical biomarker-based strategy was added to surveillance, at an acceptability threshold of $100,000 per QALY gained.

LIMITATIONS: Treatment options for BE that overlap those for symptomatic GERD were omitted.

CONCLUSION: By using best available estimates of the malignant potential of BE, endoscopic surveillance of patients with non-dysplastic BE is unlikely to be cost-effective for the majority of patients and depends heavily on progression rates between dysplasia grades. However, strategies that modify surveillance according to cancer risk might be cost-effective, provided that high-risk individuals can be identified and prioritized for surveillance.