Contrast MRA reduces cost for PVD diagnosis

The Veterans Affairs system could have saved more than $13 million in six years by using contrast-enhanced MR angiography instead of digital subtraction angiography for peripheral vascular disease imaging, according to a multicenter study presented at the 2006 International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research meeting.

J.W. Hay, Ph.D., an associate professor of pharmaceutical economics and policy at the University of Southern California, retrospectively reviewed VA outpatient data on almost 20,000 patients who underwent DSA and CE-MRA from 1999 to 2004. He found that use of CE-MRA reduced imaging costs by 55% over DSA. Costs per procedure were reduced by $950 compared with DSA.