Should Endovascular Repair Be Reimbursed for Low Risk Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Patients? Evidence from Ontario, Canada
Table 1
Baseline characteristics of study participants.
Variable
EVAR
OSR high risk
OSR low risk
Value EVAR versus OSR high risk
Value EVAR versus OSR high risk
Value OSR high risk versus low risk
No. of patients, %
140 (100)
52 (26.6)
143 (73.4)
Age, yr (mean, SD)
.24
<.01
.06
min-max
59–93
54–91
52–87
Male gender, %
85.7
73.1
87.4
.04
0.68
.02
Smoking, %
.07
<.01
.53
Current
22.8
34.6
40.6
Former
63.6
61.5
53.1
Never
13.6
3.9
6.3
Mean AAA size (cm)
.10
0.98
.10
SVS/ISCVS risk-factor scores, %
.97
<.01
<.01
I
34.3
34.6
83.9
II
65.7
65.4
16.1
ASA Grade, %
.69
<.01
.02
I
0
0
0
II
1.4
0
4.2
III
32.1
33.3
50.3
IV
66.5
66.7
45.5
Leiden score (% of mortality)
.76
<.01
.04
Cardiovascular history, %
35.7
42.3
19.0
.40
<.01
< .01
Angina pectoris MI
<6 months
2.1
3.9
0.7
.61
.37
.17
>6 months
43.9
40.4
23.8
.66
<.01
.02
CHF, %
9.3
9.6
0
.94
<.01
<.01
Arrhythmia
25.0
21.2
7.8
.58
<0.01
<.01
Previous cardiac intervention angioplasty/stent
GABG
11.4
7.7
7.0
.45
.20
1
Valve surgery
26.4
23.1
12.6
.64
<.01
.07
Hypertension
3.6
0
1.4
.33
.28
1
Stroke
81.3
75.0
74.1
.34
.15
.90
TIA
12.9
5.8
4.2
.16
<.01
.70
PVD
7.9
11.5
6.3
.41
.61
.23
10.1
30.0
8.6
<.01
.67
<.01
DM
19.3
19.2
11.9
.99
.09
.19
Renal disease, %
1.4
0
0.7
1
1
1
Pulmonary disease, %
COPD, %
35.7
41.2
20.4
.49
<.01
<.01
Emphysema, %
25.0
17.3
8.1
.26
<.01
.11
Asthma, %
2.9
7.7
4.9
.22
.38
.49
Other, %
Previous abdominal surgery
45.3
34.6
28.7
.18
<.01
.48
Hostile abdomen
2.2
3.9
0.0
.61
.12
.07
AAA: Abdominal aortic aneurysm; ASA: American Society of Anesthesiologist; CHF: congestive heart failure; CABG: coronary artery bypass grafting; COPD: chronic pulmonary disease; EVAR: endovascular aneurysm repair; MI: myocardial infarction; OSR: open surgical repair; SD: standard deviation; SVS/ISVS: Society for Vascular Surgery/International Society for Cardiovascular Surgery.
