DIRECT COST OF EPILEPSY SURGERY
Information in annual reports from long active epilepsy surgical centers (ESCs) would give a broad perspective
in relation to the direct ES costs. The first national assessment of the direct cost came from the United
States in 1978, then estimated at 50,000 U.S. dollars (USD) (99). In 1984 Swedish ES costs were estimated at
30,000 USD (100). The cost at four Swedish hospitals in 1988-1990 were 36,00046,000 USD (101). Internationally reported direct ES costs in 1993-1 994 were 2 1,800- 86,500 USD (102,103). Lately the utility of diagnostics has been stressed as a means to reduce the direct ES costs. Intraoperative identification of essential cortices with electrical stimulation can exclude other costly diagnostics
(104). A high benefitfcost ratio has been found between a 10-day all-inclusive costs of 68,000 USD of
pediatric ES compared with the mean annual direct cost of 19,360 USD for a child with epilepsy (103). The predictive value of certain diagnostics has been studied to clarify the role of technologies (105). Three significant predictors noted were quantified interictal epileptiform activity, ictal EEG abnormality, and neuroimaging data. Using the seizure-free rate as an effectiveness measure showed that ES is cheaper than AED treatment alone. ES resulted in 57% seizure-free patients versus AEDs alone in 12%, equaling a net saving of 58,300 USD per ES patient (106). A European study found the cost of medical care to be 3 times higher in patients with intractable than in well-controlled epilepsy (107). The direct costs for medical treatment during 50 years are 30 times higher than the ES cost. The costs of ES and other patients have been compared by diagnosis-related groups (DRG) classifications, ranging between 16,000 and 65,000 USD. A better definition of resource requirements was proposed (108). It was further concluded that noninvasive low-cost
presurgical investigations suffice for successful temporallobe ES (109). Prolonged EEGs in children and outpatient video-EEG monitoring can provide high-quality, cost-gain recordings in cases of frequent seizures (1 10). The method of cost accounting of ES programs also was addressed (1 11). Cost-effectiveness of the presurgical use of the resource demanding MEG has been evaluated (1 12,113). Reduced need for presurgical evaluation and concomitant cost reduction could apply to lesional ES, in case of diagnostic convergence in temporal lobe epilepsy, in early ES, in large hemisphere lesions, and in
CCS. It is noteworthy that low-cost ES can be carried out in a developing society setting. In Colombia the charge was 2,000 USD per ES operation (1 14). In South Africa, ES costs were estimated at 15,000 USD, one fifth of those in the USA (115). The cost of rare noninvasive radiosurgery for epilepsy also was defined (1 16). Diagnostic
utility studies and/or health economic-outcome
predictions have drawn attention to the need for defining
essential and cost-effective workups. Avoiding redundance
makes reallocation of resources possible. The direct
costs of palliative ES are lower than those of resective
ES, the workup and surgery being simpler, and the
hospitalization shorter. The saving from such partial improvement
is limited but notable.
DISCUSSION
A search on ES for the period 1993 through June 1996
identified 464 articles. Within that period, -5% of the
reports/abstracts dealt with cost/employment issues. The
ILAE Commission on Economic Aspects of Epilepsy
(ICEE) recently published the book Cost ofEpilepsy, and
a second one is in press (123,124). The increased awareness
of ES cost and cost-effectiveness has emerged from
strained economic circumstances, investments in diagnostic
and surgical technologies, but also from a wider
perspective on the outcome evaluation of ES. Most of
these publications focus on direct costs, some on indirect
costs, and hardly none on capital investment. Those administrating
ES usually are responsible for management,
dealing with such direct costs as purchase of diagnostic
equipment, installation, and utilization. Current direct ES
cost reporting omits, with an occasional exception, capital
investment, as most new ESCs sprout from existing
facilities (125). However, establishing an ESC requires
construction for video-EEG stations, neuroimaging, operating
theater, and so on. Specifying the “essential”
capital investment in addition to other direct costs would
be helpful in planning ES in case of limited resources.
Help to assess the direct cost of institutionalized care in
medical and surgical centers could be culled from active
centers.
The indirect-cost sector is a responsibility for upper
society echelons. It attracts little interest among the
medical profession ethically charged to improve diagnostics,
care, and follow-up. The outcome of ES can be
defined within a traditional, narrow framework (seizures),
but also in a broad perspective (QOL, patient
satisfaction), each one with inherent methodologic issues
and health-economic ramifications. The medical profession
financially reports to the local administration, which
requests support from national providers of resources.
The latter are more interested in indirect cost reduction
than the former, especially if treatment reduces production
loss. Increased postoperative employment is associated
with reduced indirect costs. Several of the cited
reports on increased employment indicated that the indirect
costs indeed are reduced after ES. Although exact
figures comparing pre- and postoperative income are
rare, the mere fact that employment is affected beneficially
by ES is encouraging. The influence of societal
attitudes (in general negative toward epilepsy, or even
toward individuals who have undergone successful ES)
should be addressed more in relation to employmentunderemployment
and normalization of life.
This survey also has referred to studies unable to
document increased employment after ES. There are severa1
reasons for this negative consequence. One must not
blame ES for this failure nor claim it to be a tooexpensive
provider of such low cost-effectiveness. One
can wrongly argue that it is better to resort to the cheap
and less risky AED treatment alone. Such criticism necessitates
consideration of why ES usually is done after
yearddecades of unsuccessful AED therapy and the burden
of social stigmata, so common among people with
epilepsy. These negative consequencies are in fact AEDtreatment
complications. A well-balanced, long-range input-
outcome scale would be the best unbiased denominator
for definition of illness and care complications.
Which is a more devastating end point for an individual,
a low risk of a surgical complication, or a gradual medical-
QOL decline, perhaps of larger dimension? If ES
candidates had received normal education, vocational
training, had been employed, and were unimpeded in
self-dependence, those who later had access to successful
ES could have returned to their jobs. Unfortunately,
many epilepsy patients today have a low employment
rate. Vocational rehabilitation after ES could improve the
chances for employment. Because of the fluctuations in
general unemployment, the reduction in indirect costs
from ES needs consideration. The incorrect view that
gainful ES cannot be based on fluctuating employment
as a reference is open to criticism. The evaluation of
excess unemployment due to epilepsy will, it is claimed,
also fluctuate, as will the savings of indirect costs. Such
a stand should also apply to any societal resource allocation
for long-range care and education of children, of
youth, of pension and care of elderly, and for that matter,
to all direct and indirect costs. The health economic outcome
of ES must be evaluated in a wider perspective,
which an investment in human capital deserves. The
point has been made that to arrive at the true cost of ES,
one must reduce the medical and surgical costs for the
treatment of intractable epilepsy by the net present value
of the future reductions in the cost of medical care (126).
Such reasoning focuses on direct cost reduction, but the
assessment of reduced production loss must not be neglected.
Studying the cost and cost-effectiveness issue of direct
and indirect costs related to ES is largely an experience
of industrialized countries. A comparative analysis
would describe national characteristics, irrespective of at
which welfare level and where the ESCs are. Purchasingpower
comparison (PPC) could compare healtheconomic
profiles, and important lessons could be
learned. Such knowledge would help to define the “essentials”
of ES in developing countries, where the demand
is extreme. Successful low-price ES can indeed be
conducted in a developing country (1 14). Such experience
could beneficially influence ES in industrialized
Internacountries
without compromising their resource, demanding
duty and commitment to research and care promotion.
A mutual beneficial spin-off effect between developing
and developed nations could thereby evolve. The
evaluation of indirect cost reduction by ES in developing
countries is an issue that requires complementary assessments.
They have utterly restricted resources even to
provide cheap AED medication to the epilepsy population,
the size of which may be unknown. “Essential”
low-price ES could change that panorama.
DIRECT COST OF EPILEPSY SURGERYInformation in annual reports from long active epilepsy surgical centers (ESCs) would give a broad perspectivein relation to the direct ES costs. The first national assessment of the direct cost came from the UnitedStates in 1978, then estimated at 50,000 U.S. dollars (USD) (99). In 1984 Swedish ES costs were estimated at30,000 USD (100). The cost at four Swedish hospitals in 1988-1990 were 36,00046,000 USD (101). Internationally reported direct ES costs in 1993-1 994 were 2 1,800- 86,500 USD (102,103). Lately the utility of diagnostics has been stressed as a means to reduce the direct ES costs. Intraoperative identification of essential cortices with electrical stimulation can exclude other costly diagnostics(104). A high benefitfcost ratio has been found between a 10-day all-inclusive costs of 68,000 USD ofpediatric ES compared with the mean annual direct cost of 19,360 USD for a child with epilepsy (103). The predictive value of certain diagnostics has been studied to clarify the role of technologies (105). Three significant predictors noted were quantified interictal epileptiform activity, ictal EEG abnormality, and neuroimaging data. Using the seizure-free rate as an effectiveness measure showed that ES is cheaper than AED treatment alone. ES resulted in 57% seizure-free patients versus AEDs alone in 12%, equaling a net saving of 58,300 USD per ES patient (106). A European study found the cost of medical care to be 3 times higher in patients with intractable than in well-controlled epilepsy (107). The direct costs for medical treatment during 50 years are 30 times higher than the ES cost. The costs of ES and other patients have been compared by diagnosis-related groups (DRG) classifications, ranging between 16,000 and 65,000 USD. A better definition of resource requirements was proposed (108). It was further concluded that noninvasive low-costpresurgical investigations suffice for successful temporallobe ES (109). Prolonged EEGs in children and outpatient video-EEG monitoring can provide high-quality, cost-gain recordings in cases of frequent seizures (1 10). The method of cost accounting of ES programs also was addressed (1 11). Cost-effectiveness of the presurgical use of the resource demanding MEG has been evaluated (1 12,113). Reduced need for presurgical evaluation and concomitant cost reduction could apply to lesional ES, in case of diagnostic convergence in temporal lobe epilepsy, in early ES, in large hemisphere lesions, and inCCS. It is noteworthy that low-cost ES can be carried out in a developing society setting. In Colombia the charge was 2,000 USD per ES operation (1 14). In South Africa, ES costs were estimated at 15,000 USD, one fifth of those in the USA (115). The cost of rare noninvasive radiosurgery for epilepsy also was defined (1 16). Diagnosticutility studies and/or health economic-outcomepredictions have drawn attention to the need for definingessential and cost-effective workups. Avoiding redundancemakes reallocation of resources possible. The directcosts of palliative ES are lower than those of resectiveES, the workup and surgery being simpler, and thehospitalization shorter. The saving from such partial improvementis limited but notable.DISCUSSIONA search on ES for the period 1993 through June 1996identified 464 articles. Within that period, -5% of thereports/abstracts dealt with cost/employment issues. TheILAE Commission on Economic Aspects of Epilepsy(ICEE) recently published the book Cost ofEpilepsy, anda second one is in press (123,124). The increased awarenessof ES cost and cost-effectiveness has emerged fromstrained economic circumstances, investments in diagnosticand surgical technologies, but also from a widerperspective on the outcome evaluation of ES. Most ofthese publications focus on direct costs, some on indirectcosts, and hardly none on capital investment. Those administratingES usually are responsible for management,dealing with such direct costs as purchase of diagnosticequipment, installation, and utilization. Current direct EScost reporting omits, with an occasional exception, capitalinvestment, as most new ESCs sprout from existingfacilities (125). However, establishing an ESC requiresconstruction for video-EEG stations, neuroimaging, operatingtheater, and so on. Specifying the “essential”capital investment in addition to other direct costs wouldbe helpful in planning ES in case of limited resources.Help to assess the direct cost of institutionalized care inmedical and surgical centers could be culled from activecenters.The indirect-cost sector is a responsibility for uppersociety echelons. It attracts little interest among themedical profession ethically charged to improve diagnostics,care, and follow-up. The outcome of ES can bedefined within a traditional, narrow framework (seizures),but also in a broad perspective (QOL, patientsatisfaction), each one with inherent methodologic issuesand health-economic ramifications. The medical professionfinancially reports to the local administration, whichrequests support from national providers of resources.The latter are more interested in indirect cost reductionthan the former, especially if treatment reduces productionloss. Increased postoperative employment is associatedwith reduced indirect costs. Several of the citedreports on increased employment indicated that the indirectcosts indeed are reduced after ES. Although exactfigures comparing pre- and postoperative income arerare, the mere fact that employment is affected beneficiallyby ES is encouraging. The influence of societalattitudes (in general negative toward epilepsy, or eventoward individuals who have undergone successful ES)should be addressed more in relation to employmentunderemploymentand normalization of life.This survey also has referred to studies unable todocument increased employment after ES. There are severa1reasons for this negative consequence. One must notblame ES for this failure nor claim it to be a tooexpensiveprovider of such low cost-effectiveness. Onecan wrongly argue that it is better to resort to the cheapand less risky AED treatment alone. Such criticism necessitatesconsideration of why ES usually is done after
yearddecades of unsuccessful AED therapy and the burden
of social stigmata, so common among people with
epilepsy. These negative consequencies are in fact AEDtreatment
complications. A well-balanced, long-range input-
outcome scale would be the best unbiased denominator
for definition of illness and care complications.
Which is a more devastating end point for an individual,
a low risk of a surgical complication, or a gradual medical-
QOL decline, perhaps of larger dimension? If ES
candidates had received normal education, vocational
training, had been employed, and were unimpeded in
self-dependence, those who later had access to successful
ES could have returned to their jobs. Unfortunately,
many epilepsy patients today have a low employment
rate. Vocational rehabilitation after ES could improve the
chances for employment. Because of the fluctuations in
general unemployment, the reduction in indirect costs
from ES needs consideration. The incorrect view that
gainful ES cannot be based on fluctuating employment
as a reference is open to criticism. The evaluation of
excess unemployment due to epilepsy will, it is claimed,
also fluctuate, as will the savings of indirect costs. Such
a stand should also apply to any societal resource allocation
for long-range care and education of children, of
youth, of pension and care of elderly, and for that matter,
to all direct and indirect costs. The health economic outcome
of ES must be evaluated in a wider perspective,
which an investment in human capital deserves. The
point has been made that to arrive at the true cost of ES,
one must reduce the medical and surgical costs for the
treatment of intractable epilepsy by the net present value
of the future reductions in the cost of medical care (126).
Such reasoning focuses on direct cost reduction, but the
assessment of reduced production loss must not be neglected.
Studying the cost and cost-effectiveness issue of direct
and indirect costs related to ES is largely an experience
of industrialized countries. A comparative analysis
would describe national characteristics, irrespective of at
which welfare level and where the ESCs are. Purchasingpower
comparison (PPC) could compare healtheconomic
profiles, and important lessons could be
learned. Such knowledge would help to define the “essentials”
of ES in developing countries, where the demand
is extreme. Successful low-price ES can indeed be
conducted in a developing country (1 14). Such experience
could beneficially influence ES in industrialized
Internacountries
without compromising their resource, demanding
duty and commitment to research and care promotion.
A mutual beneficial spin-off effect between developing
and developed nations could thereby evolve. The
evaluation of indirect cost reduction by ES in developing
countries is an issue that requires complementary assessments.
They have utterly restricted resources even to
provide cheap AED medication to the epilepsy population,
the size of which may be unknown. “Essential”
low-price ES could change that panorama.
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