In-Hospital cost comparison of transcatheter closure versus surgical closure of secundum atrial septal defect

Introduction: We compared transcatheter and surgical closure of secundum atrial septal defects (ASDs) in terms of cost in this study. Materials and Methods: Between 2006 and 2015, 291 consecutive patients having secundum ASD, in whom percutaneous or surgical closure was performed, were included in this study. We compared the in-hospital cost of transcatheter versus surgical ASD closure in these patients. Results: We collected totaly 291 patients, 214 transcatheter and 77 surgical closure procedures, retrospectively. Patients with a surgical closure had a longer length of stay (11.8 ± 3.8 days vs. 2.8 ± 1.6 days, P < 0.001). There was no in-hospital mortality in two groups. Costs denominated in Turkish lira (TL) and United States Dollar (USD) of transcatheter closure were higher than that of surgical closure (TL 10955.6 ± 183.4 vs. TL 6016.7 ± 371.9 P < 0.001; USD 6531.2 ± 149.62 vs. USD 3896.2 ± 234.7 P < 0.001). The cost of percutaneous ASD closure increase does not correlate with the dollar rate on the annual basis. This with the supplier firms has excessive profits in the first year of the study. Conclusion: Compared with other countries with regard to cost, transcatheter ASD closure is a more expensive treatment than surgical closure in our country.