Cost-Effectiveness of Thallium-201 versus Technetium·99m· Sestamibi in the Detection of Coronary Artery Disease

Objectives: The purposes of this study were to demonstrate the applicability of pharmacoeconomic principles in the nuclear medicine market and to compare the cost effectiveness of 201 TI and mTc-sestamibi. Methods: Cost information was obtained from a South Carolina hospital. Effectiveness data were obtained from the literature. Results: This research showed that when 201 TI was used either one day before or on the day of calibration it was more cost-effective than mTc-sestamibi for the detection of coronary artery disease; especially when cardiac scheduling was light. This conclusion held for several varying scenarios. Technetium-99m-sestamibi was more cost-effective than 201 TI in the scenarios where patient scheduling was heavy and the 201 TI was used three days post-calibration. Conclusion: Although the generalizability of these results is strictly limited, this research demonstrates the applicability of pharmacoeconomics to radiopharmaceuticals. These results provide some insight into the efficient use of cardiac imaging agents.