Health technology assessment

In mid-November, 2018, the European HTA agency, EUnetHTA, published the ultimate project plan of the assessment on “Custom-made or customizable 3D printed implants and cutting guides versus non-3D printed standard implants and cutting guides for improving outcome in patients undergoing knee, maxillofacial, or cranial surgery”.

In mid-November, 2018, the Catalan Agency for Quality and Healthcare Evaluation, AQuAS, published their evaluation of bilateral cochlear implants in children and adults. The authors provided a list of criteria a patient has to fulfil in order to have a cochlear implant prescribed.

In October, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published one new interventional procedure guidance for selective internal radiation therapy for unresectable primary intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, one updated medical technologies guidance endoluminal stent graft system designed for treating aneurysms and dissections of the thoracic aorta and one new medical technologies guidance for a titanium implant intended for use in people with chronic sacroiliac joint pain and three new medtech innovation briefings for device used for babies and children up to 30 kg who need mechanical ventilation, gammaCore for cluster headache and system that delivers warmed and humidified respiratory gases, including at high-flow rates.

In October of 2018, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) has published a single technology assessment regarding the external ultrasound stimulation - Exogen™ in the treatment of femoral or tibial non-union. The objective of the assessment was to evaluate the efficacy, safety and health economic documentation for EXOGEN™ compared to surgical treatment for the management of patients with non-union of a fracture. The results have shown that the present documentation does not give evidence to assess the clinical or cost-effectiveness of EXOGEN™ for the treatment of non-union fractures compared to surgery.

Two mini-method assessments regarding the magnetic technology (Magseed) for labeling non-palpable breast lesions and robotic-assisted minimally invasive harvesting of muscle patches for reconstructive surgery were initiated in Norway this October of 2018. All finalized mini-method assessments are published in the National Database for Mini-HTA.

On October 26, 2018, the European Network for Health Technology Assessment has published the final report of femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery (FLACS) for the treatment of age-related cataract. The authors of this report are a group of experts from the Italian region of Emilia Romagna, together with Health Austria (Gesundheit Österreich, GÖG).

In September, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published two new interventional procedure guidance for transurethral water jet ablation for lower urinary tract symptoms caused by benign prostatic hyperplasia and intravesical microwave hyperthermia and chemotherapy for non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer, one medical technologies guidance for neuropad for detecting preclinical diabetic peripheral neuropathy and two new medtech innovation.

In the middle of October 2018, the Andalusian Agency for the Evaluation of Health Technologies, AETSA, has published a health technology report in which they have assessed the safety, efficacy and efficiency of FebriDx® test.

In August, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published four new interventional procedure guidance for leadless cardiac pacemaker implantation for bradyarrhythmias, superior rectal artery embolisation for haemorrhoids, sutureless aortic valve replacement for aortic stenosis and transurethral water vapour ablation for benign prostatic hyperplasia, and four new medtech innovation briefings.

In mid-October 2018, the Catalan Agency for Quality and Healthcare Evaluation, AQuAS, published the evaluation of efficacy and safety home-based hospitalization. The authors have concluded that it is a valid patient care option.

In October 2018, the Austrian HTA body, the Ludwig-Boltzmann Institue (LBI), published the update on the PET/PET-CT topic. The report was done together with the Berlin Technical University.

On 6th of September, 2018, the Austrian HTA body, the Ludwig-Boltzmann Institute (LBI-HTA) has released a report on external stimulation of the trigeminal nerve for the prevention and acute treatment of an episodic and chronic migraine. The method was not recommended for inclusion into catalogue of hospital benefits.