Study design (if review, criteria of inclusion for studies)
Cost-benefit analysis
Participants
CF carrier-couples
Interventions
IVF with preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD)
Outcome measures
The amount spent to deliver healthy children for all CF carrier-couples by IVF-PGD was compared with the average annual and lifetime direct medical costs per CF patient avoided.
Main results
Treating annually about 4000 CF carrier-couples with IVF-PGD would result in 3715 deliveries of non-affected children at a cost of $57,467 per baby. Because the average annual direct medical cost per CF patient was $63,127 and life expectancy is 37 years, savings would be $2.3 million per patient and $2.2 billion for all new CF patients annually in lifetime treatment costs. Cumulated net saving of an IVF-PGD program for all carrier-couples for 37 years would be $33.3 billion. A total of 618,714 cumulative years of patients suffering because of CF and thousands of abortions could be prevented.
Authors' conclusions
A national IVF-PGD program is a highly cost-effective novel modality of preventive medicine and would avoid most births of individuals affected with debilitating genetic disease.