Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32641528›Full record

ArticleNeurology2020

Cost-effectiveness of surgery for drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy in the US.

Shehryar R Sheikh, Michael W Kattan, Michael Steinmetz, Mendel E Singer, Belinda L Udeh, Lara Jehi

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Neurology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
29citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

29 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Article
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  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Seminars in epileptology: Presurgical epilepsy evaluation.Epileptic disorders : international epilepsy journal with videotape · 2025
    Review
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  19. Article
  20. Electrical Wada for pre-surgical memory testing: a case report.Epileptic disorders : international epilepsy journal with videotape · 2022
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Shehryar R SheikhFrom the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University (S.R.S.); Department of Quantitative Health Sciences (M.W.K., B.L.U.), Department of Neurological Surgery (M.S.), and Epilepsy Center (L.J.), Cleveland Clinic; and Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences (M.E.S.), Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH.
Michael W KattanFrom the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University (S.R.S.); Department of Quantitative Health Sciences (M.W.K., B.L.U.), Department of Neurological Surgery (M.S.), and Epilepsy Center (L.J.), Cleveland Clinic; and Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences (M.E.S.), Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH.ORCID 0000-0002-3840-4161
Michael SteinmetzFrom the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University (S.R.S.); Department of Quantitative Health Sciences (M.W.K., B.L.U.), Department of Neurological Surgery (M.S.), and Epilepsy Center (L.J.), Cleveland Clinic; and Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences (M.E.S.), Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH.
Mendel E SingerFrom the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University (S.R.S.); Department of Quantitative Health Sciences (M.W.K., B.L.U.), Department of Neurological Surgery (M.S.), and Epilepsy Center (L.J.), Cleveland Clinic; and Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences (M.E.S.), Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH.
Belinda L UdehFrom the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University (S.R.S.); Department of Quantitative Health Sciences (M.W.K., B.L.U.), Department of Neurological Surgery (M.S.), and Epilepsy Center (L.J.), Cleveland Clinic; and Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences (M.E.S.), Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH.
Lara JehiFrom the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University (S.R.S.); Department of Quantitative Health Sciences (M.W.K., B.L.U.), Department of Neurological Surgery (M.S.), and Epilepsy Center (L.J.), Cleveland Clinic; and Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences (M.E.S.), Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH. jehil@ccf.org.

Funding

A Nomogram to Predict Seizure Outcomes After Resective Epilepsy SurgeryR01NS097719 · NINDS · CLEVELAND CLINIC LERNER COM-CWRU · PI JEHI, LARA · 2017 to 2021
$3.6M
NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS097719
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveSurgery is an effective but costly treatment for many patients with drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (DR-TLE). We aim to evaluate whether, in the United States, surgery is cost-effective compared to medical management for patients deemed surgical candidates and whether surgical evaluation is cost-effective for patients with DR-TLE in general.

methodsWe use a semi-Markov model to assess the cost-effectiveness of surgery and surgical evaluation over a lifetime horizon. We use second-order Monte Carlo simulations to conduct probabilistic sensitivity analyses to estimate variation in model output. We adopt both health care and societal perspectives, including direct health care costs (e.g., surgery, antiepileptic drugs) and indirect costs (e.g., lost earnings by patients and care providers.) We compare the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio to societal willingness to pay (∼$100,000 per quality-adjusted life-year [QALY]) to determine whether surgery is cost-effective.

resultsEpilepsy surgery is cost-effective compared to medical management in surgically eligible patients by virtue of being cost-saving ($328,000 vs $423,000) and more effective (16.6 vs 13.6 QALY) than medical management in the long run. Surgical evaluation is cost-effective in patients with DR-TLE even if the probability of being deemed a surgical candidate is only 5%. From a societal perspective, surgery becomes cost-effective within 3 years, and 89% of simulations favor surgery over the lifetime horizon.

conclusionFor surgically eligible patients with DR-TLE, surgery is cost-effective. For patients with DR-TLE in general, referral for surgical evaluation (and possible subsequent surgery) is cost-effective. Patients with DR-TLE should be referred for surgical evaluation without hesitation on cost-effectiveness grounds.

Indexed as

Cost-Benefit AnalysisDrug Resistant EpilepsyEpilepsy, Temporal LobeHumansNeurosurgical ProceduresUnited States

Identifiers

PMID32641528
PMCPMC7538217

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.