Cost evaluation of the medical management of neurofibromatosis 1: a prospective study on 201 patients.

ABSTRACT

Neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) is associated with many internal complications as well as skin manifestations, and patients may require a variety of medical and surgical interventions. We aimed to assess the medical needs of NF1 patients, and to evaluate the financial cost of the resources used for them in relation to the severity of the disease. We conducted a prospective analysis on a cohort of 201 patients in our referral centre for adults. Severity of the disease was assessed. Therapeutic management was considered as multidisciplinary if it required more than three different specialists. Plastic and dermatological surgery procedures performed were recorded. Hospital costs were computed over a 3-year period and included all hospitalization days, clinic visits and procedures performed in all departments where the patients were admitted. One hundred and thirty-seven patients had at least one out-patient procedure or one hospitalization during the follow-up period. The mean cost per patient per year was pound810 (median 240; range 0-13, 860). Multidisciplinary procedures were more frequent in moderately and severely affected NF1 patients than in milder cases (P < 0. 0001); hence, the costs for moderate and severe cases were higher than for less severe groups (P = 0.005). Plastic and/or dermatological surgery was performed with the same frequency in the different severity groups (71%). Regardless of the presence of serious intractable complications, the patients' priority is for treatment of the disfigurement due to the disease. The management of these patients can be considered relatively inexpensive from the viewpoint of the healthcare system.