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Article: Drug-eluting stents/One of the authors responds
- Article from:
- Canadian Medical Association. Journal
- Article date:
- May 22, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright Canadian Medical Association May 22, 2007. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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In their recent systematic review, Suzanne Ligthart and associates compared analyses of the cost-effectiveness of drug-eluting stents.1 They found that in most studies in which an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio greater than $50 000 per quality-adjusted life-year was calculated the study authors recommended against the widespread use of drug-eluting stents. However, we believe that previously published cost analyses of drug-eluting stents, including those mentioned by Ligthart and associates, may have failed to consider the potential costs of lifetime therapy with clopidogrel.
Recent evidence suggests that cessation of clopidogrel therapy in patients with drug-eluting stents can lead ...