Health technology assessment

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.

In May 2018, the French National Authority of Health, HAS, has published an update of the assessment of coronary stents.

On 3rd of October, 2018, the Italian Agency for Regional Healthcare Services, AGENAS, announced on their website that the reviewer volunteers are needed for reviewing the reports that should be published soon.

On 20th of July, 2018, the Austrian HTA body, the Ludwig-Boltzmann Institute (LBI) has published HTA of meniscal allograft transplantation for post-meniscectomy syndrome in Austria. It was concluded that there is not enough evidence demonstrating benefits in order to include MAT into the Austrian benefit catalogue.

In mid-September 2018, the Andalusian HTA agency, AETSA, published a report in which they assessed the safety and effectiveness of the cardiopoietic stem cells therapy of secondary heart failure to myocardial ischemia.

EUnetHTA is a network of HTA bodies within Europe that promote the development of health technology assessment in all European countries by working together. This article will present the plans for the projects that will be published in the near future.

On 20th of July, 2018, the Austrian HTA body, the Ludwig-Boltzmann Institute (LBI) has published HTA of allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells for Crohn’s disease-associated complex perianal fistulas. Currently, inclusion into Austrian catalogue of benefits was not recommended with reevaluation in 2022.

On 20th of July, 2018, the Austrian HTA body, the Ludwig-Boltzmann Institute (LBI) has published an evaluation of baroreceptor activation therapy for treatment-resistant hypertension. The authors concluded that there is no sufficient evidence to conclude on effectiveness or safety of BAT and thus inclusion of the procedure into the Austrian benefit catalogue is not recommended. There are currently three RCTs going on, and their results may bring new evidence.

On the 14th of August of 2018, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) has published a health technology assessment report in relation to autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) comparing with standard treatment for patients with systemic sclerosis. The results have shown that the transplant‐related mortality after AHSCT is high, but risk of organ failure and death is lower after two years follow‐up and beyond compared to standard treatment, AHSCT provides a significant improvement of skin involvement and lung function measured by forced vital capacity compared to standard treatment with cyclophosphamide injections.

In mid-August 2018, the Austrian HTA body, the Ludwig-Boltzmann Institute (LBI), has published an evaluation of efficacy and safety of carbon ion beam radiotherapy (CIRT) for twelve oncological indications.