Cost-effectiveness analysis of population-based screening of hepatocellular carcinoma: Comparing ultrasonography with two-stage screening

AIM: To assess the cost-effectiveness of two populationbased hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) screening programs, two-stage biomarker-ultrasound method and mass screening using abdominal ultrasonography(AUS).METHODS: In this study, we applied a Markov decision model with a societal perspective and a lifetime horizon for the general population-based cohorts in an area with high HCC incidence, such as Taiwan. The accuracy of biomarkers and ultrasonography was estimated from published meta-analyses. The costs of surveillance, diagnosis, and treatment were based on a combination of published literature, Medicare payments, and medical expenditure at the National Taiwan University Hospital. The main outcome measure was cost per lifeyear gained with a 3% annual discount rate. RESULTS: The results show that the mass screening using AUS was associated with an incremental costeffectiveness ratio of USD39825 per life-year gained, whereas two-stage screening was associated with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of USD49733 per life-year gained, as compared with no screening. Screening programs with an initial screening age of 50 years old and biennial screening interval were the most cost-effective. These findings were sensitive to the costs of screening tools and the specificity of biomarker screening.CONCLUSION: Mass screening using AUS is more cost effective than two-stage biomarker-ultrasound screening. The most optimal strategy is an initial screening age at 50 years old with a 2-year inter-screening interval.

Barriers and Enablers That Influence Utilization of Ultrasound Screening Services among Antenatal Women in Kajiado and Kisii Counties Kenya

Background: The World Health Organization recommends to have all pregnant women to undergo an obstetric ultrasound scan before 24 weeks gestation. However, this has been a challenge as a result of limited access to appropriate Point of Care Ultrasound Screening (POCUS) services in lower levels of developing countries’ Health Systems, cost of care, skills gap among care providers and unclear regulatory policy frameworks. Obstetric Ultrasound scan helps to confirm viability of a pregnancy, gestational age, multiple pregnancies and it also helps rule out fetal abnormalities early enough. Methods: One year after intervention, a cross-sectional study was carried in the two pilot counties of Kisii (rural) and Kajiado (peri-urban). This followed after selected midwives in the two counties were trained on basic obstetric ultrasound screening for ANC women. A total of 366 women who were either in their last phases of pregnancy or had delivered within three months before the survey were interviewed. Cumulatively, the 36 midwives had screened 1,250 mothers out of whom 18 high risk pregnancies were identified. Open Data Kit (ODK) was used to collect quantitative data and analysed using STATA version 15. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data test associations between variables. Bivariate and logistic regression was used to identify predictive variables, and ORs with 95% confidence intervals used to measure the strength of the associations. Findings: Slightly more than a third (36%) of the women had recently delivered. In total, Kisii (rural county) had a representation of 59% of the respondents. Half of the respondents were aged between 25 - 34 years, 55% of the women interviewed were housewives while 48% had secondary level of education. Only 21% of the women had undergone routine ultrasound screening before 24 weeks of gestation with the average distance travelled by majority (45%) of the respondents to access the POCUS service being 3 - 5 km. The need to confirm a pregnancy’s gestation was the major (68.1%) motivator for seeking the service in the two pilot counties. Employment status, household income, education level, pregnancy gestation and distance to the facility had a statistical significance (P < 0.05) with ultrasound utilization. Highest education level, pregnancy gestation and distance to the nearest ultrasound screening facility were found to significantly predict the likelihood of utilizing the ultrasound services (P < 0.05). The initial training and continuous hands-on coaching of midwives by TOTs contributed a lot to acquisition of the desired basic obstetric ultrasound screening skills. Conclusion: Women in developing countries are eager to access obstetric ultrasound screening services but for limited opportunities and sustainable implementation frameworks on Point of Care Ultrasound Screening (POCUS) services. Training and continuous coaching of frontline health professionals are critical in deployment of POCUS but there is limited access to standardised training content.

Treatment of liver hydatidosis:How to treat an asymptomatic carrier?

Liver hydatidosis is the most common clinical presentation of cystic echinococcosis(CE).Ultrasonographic mass surveys have demonstrated the true prevalence,including the asymptomatic characteristic of the majority of cases,providing new insight into the natural history of the disease.This raises the question of whether to treat or not to treat these patients,due to the high and unsuspected prevalence of CE.The high rate of liver/lung frequencies of cyst localization,the autopsy findings,and the involution of cysts demonstrated in long time follow-up of asymptomatic carriers contribute to this discussion.The decision to treat an asymptomatic patient by surgery,albendazole,or puncture aspiration injection and reaspiration or to wait and watch,is based on conflicting reports in the literature,the lack of complications in untreated patients over time,and the spontaneous disappearance and involution of cysts.All these points contribute to difficulties of individual clinical decisions.The patients should be informed of the reasons and the risks of watchful/waiting without treatment,the possibility of complications,and the risks of the other options.As more information on the natural history of liver hydatidosis is acquired,selection of the best treatment will be come easier.Without this knowledge it would be very difficult to establish definitive rules of treatment.At present,it is possible to manage these patients over time and to wait for the best moment for treatment.Followup studies must be conducted to achieve this objective.