• Seema Kacker, Paul M Ness, William J Savage, Kevin D Frick, R Sue Shirey, Karen E King, and Aaron A R Tobian.
• Department of Pathology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland; Department of Health Policy and Management, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland; Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
• Transfusion. 2014 Jan 1; 54 (1): 86-97.

BackgroundSickle cell disease is associated with extensive health care utilization; estimated lifetime costs exceed $460,000 per patient. Approximately 30% of chronically transfused sickle cell patients become alloimmunized to red blood cell antigens, but these patients cannot be identified a priori. Prospective antigen matching can prevent alloimmunization, but is costly and may not benefit most patients.Study Design And MethodsA Markov-based model was constructed to compare the health and financial implications of four alternative antigen-matching strategies for chronically transfused sickle cell patients. The strategies varied by the group of patients receiving matched blood (all patients prophylactically or only patients with a history of alloimmunization [history-based]), and by the extent of antigen matching (limited to C, E, and K, or extended to 11 antigens). Direct medical costs and alloimmunization events were assessed over 10- and 20-year periods, for a hypothetical cohort of initially transfusion-naive patients and for a dynamic population.ResultsWithin a hypothetical cohort of initially transfusion-naive patients, implementing prophylactic limited matching for all chronically transfused patients instead of history-based limited matching is expected to cost an additional $765.56 million over 10 years, but result in 2072 fewer alloimmunization events. Within the same cohort, implementing prospective extensive matching is expected to cost $1.86 billion more than history-based extensive matching, but result in 2424 fewer alloimmunization events. Averting a single alloimmunization event using prospective matching would cost $369,482 to $769,284. Among a dynamic population over 10 years, prospective limited matching is expected to cost $358.34 million more than history-based limited matching.ConclusionsWhile prospective matching for all transfused patients would reduce alloimmunization, this strategy requires considerable expenditure.© 2013 American Association of Blood Banks.

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