Cost-effectiveness analysis of blue light cystoscopy with hexylaminolevulinate in transurethral resection of the bladder

BackgroundPhotodynamic diagnosis using the optical imaging agent hexaminolevulinate (HAL, Hexvix (R), Ipsen Pharma GmbH, Ettlingen, Germany) as an adjunct to white light cystoscopy (WLC) during the initial transurethral resection of bladder tumours (TURB) improves the detection rate of bladder cancer and leads to fewer recurrences.ObjectivesAcost-effectiveness analysis was carried out in order to calculate the consequences for the German healthcare system.MethodsWe combined ashort-term decision tree and aMarkov model to evaluate outcomes over along period of time. The alternatives investigated were HAL-assisted blue light cystoscopy (BLC) as adjunct to WLC (HAL+BLC/WLC) compared with WLC alone in patients undergoing TURB.ResultsHAL+BLC/WLC compared to WLC alone was associated with 0.07 incremental quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and cost savings of 537Euro per patient.ConclusionHAL+BLC/WLC compared with WLC alone resulted in both cost savings and improved patient outcome rendering it the dominant strategy.