A presentation at the recent ARRS, written up in Diagnostic Imaging, talks about the cost-effectiveness of cardiac CT angiography (CTA) vis-a-vis conventional catheter angiography (CCA). This entirely depends on the rate of normal CCAs in a cath lab. Since a CCA costs around 2800USD, for a 10% normal rate, a CTA is cost-effective at 270USD, but with a 30% normal rate, it becomes cost-effective even at 810USD.
In India, typically, a CTA costs Rs. 10000 (approx. 222USD) and a CCA around Rs. 15,000 (333USD). The difference isn't much, meaning that from a public health perspective, CTA does not become all that cost-effective. From a patient's perspective, in a low-risk or medium-risk environment however, it is 50% cheaper and avoids all the other complications that may occur with CCA, though with a slightly higher radiation dose.
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