Economic evaluation of valsartan in patients with chronic heart failure: results from Val-HeFT adapted to The Netherlands

Summary

The Valsartan Heart Failure Trial (Val-HeFT) was a multinational randomised trial of valsartan versus placebo in a total of 5,010 patients with heart failure. During the study period, valsartan resulted in significant reductions in hospitalisations due to heart failure.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the economic impact of valsartan in Dutch heart failure patients.

Resource use during Val-HeFT was multiplied by Dutch cost estimates. Mean patient follow-up was 23 months and costs for hospitalisations were €617 lower among valsartan patients. Mean total costs for valsartan and placebo patients were €8,810 and €8,441, respectively, resulting in incremental costs of €368. In patients receiving an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor but no beta-blocker, these incremental costs were even lower (€171). There were overall net savings of €1,311 in patients not receiving an ACE inhibitor at baseline.

Valsartan provides clinical benefits at modest costs in The Netherlands. In patients not receiving an ACE inhibitor at baseline, valsartan was dominant.