MONDAY, Aug. 22 (HealthDay News) -- A validated model indicates that prescription ω-3 fatty acids (P-OM3) offer cost-effective reduction of adverse cardiac events and triglyceride levels in patients with severe (≥500 mg/dL) hypertriglyceridemia (SHTG), according to a study published in the Sept. 1 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology.
Stuart Samuel, Ph.D., from Archimedes Inc. in San Francisco, and colleagues investigated the clinical and economic effectiveness of P-OM3 in patients with SHTG. A validated Archimedes model was used to simulate a 20-year trial in patients aged 45 to 75 years. The model consisted of an intervention arm (P-OM3 4g/day) and a control arm.
The investigators found that, compared to those with normal triglyceride levels, patients in the control arm faced a two-fold higher risk of myocardial infarction. For the intervention arm, the model used estimates from previous epidemiologic studies and meta-analyses with P-OM3s to predict a 29 to 36 percent decrease in various measurements of adverse cardiac events and a 24 percent decrease in ischemic stroke. For the currently available P-OM3 approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the cost per quality-adjusted life-year gained was $47,000. Altering the clinical assumptions did not affect the robustness of the results.
"In our model, P-OM3 was effective in decreasing triglyceride levels and cardiovascular disease risk in patients with SHTG. In conclusion, P-OM3 medication is cost effective in our simulated trial and comparable to other cost-effective cardiovascular interventions," the authors write.
The study was funded by GlaxoSmithKline Inc.
Abstract
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