Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) today released new economic analysis data from the Fire and Ice trial comparing cryoballoon catheter ablation with radiofrequency ablation, touting advantages of cryoballoon treatment over RF.
Data from the trial was presented at the Asia Pacific Heart Rhythm Society’s Scientific Sessions in Seoul. Primary results from the trial were published in The New England Journal of Medicine, with secondary anaylses published in the European Heart Journal.
The Fridley, Minn.-based medical giant said that data from the trial indicated that cryoballoon treatment resulted in trial period cost savings due to fewer cardiovascular rehospitalizations and repeat ablations.
“The cryoballoon technology demonstrates cost savings across multiple health systems, driven by a reduction in post-procedure rehospitalizations and reinterventions due to their underlying disease state. These analyses highlight the real-world patient outcomes and health system benefits of the cryoballoon,” principal trial investigator Dr. Karl-Heinz Kuck of Hamburg, Germany’s Asklepios Klinik St. Georg said in a press release.
Medtronic said the new analysis indicated that use of its Arctic Front cryoballoon catheter family reduced payer costs “across multiple healthcare systems” when compared to the ThermoCool line of RF ablation catheters.
Payer costs for rehospitalizations and reinterventions during the trial were assigned costs based on healthcare systems and currencies from the U.K., Germany and the U.S., Medtronic said.
Cost savings were calculated at $355,005 under the U.S. system, $270,302 (EU €244,607) under the German system and $171,007 (U.K. £139,603) under the British system, Medtronic reported.
“We are committed to leading the global shift to value-based healthcare, which means we want to be measured by the impact we have both on patient outcomes as well as the economic value we create for the healthcare system. Today’s findings further underscore the ability of the cryoballoon to make a difference in care across patients, physicians and healthcare systems,” AF solutions GM Colleen Fowler said in a prepared statement.