Economic impact of GPIIB/III blockade after high-risk angioplasty : Results from the restore trial

OBJECTIVE This study was conducted to assess the impact of GPIIb/III blockade with tirofiban on costs during the initial hospitalization and at 30 days among patients undergoing high-risk coronary angioplasty. BACKGROUND GPIIb/III blockers are new class of compounds that have been shown in clinical studies to prevent complications after high-risk angioplasty. METHODS The RESTORE trial was multinational, blinded placebo-controlled study of 2,197 patients randomized to tirofiban or placebo following coronary angioplasty. This economic assessment was prospective substudy of the RESTORE trial, and included 1,920 patients enrolled in the U.S. Costs were estimated for the U.S. cohort based on their utilization of healthcare resources and on costs measured directly in 820 U.S. patients at 30 sites. RESULTS There was 36% difference in the rate of the composite event of death, myocardial infarction (MI) and revascularization at two days between tirofiban and placebo (8% vs. 12%, p = 0.002). This difference was attributed to reduction in nonfatal MI, repeat angioplasty, coronary surgery and stent placement. These clinical benefits followed similar trend at 30 days, with 16% reduction in the composite event (p = 0.10). In-hospital cost, including professional and study drug costs, was $12,145 ± 5,882 with placebo versus $12,230 ± 5,527 with tirofiban (p = 0.75). The 30-day cost was $12,402 ± 6,147 with placebo versus $12,446 ± 5,814 with tirofiban (p = 0.87). CONCLUSIONS Tirofiban has been shown to decrease in-hospital and possibly 30-day events after high-risk angioplasty. The beneficial clinical effects of tirofiban in high-risk patients can be achieved at no increased cost.