Healthcare resource utilization and medical costs increased with treatment intensity in Japanese PAH patients, with mean annual costs ranging from 2.3 million JPY (oral/inhaled monotherapy) to 21.8 million JPY (PPA combination therapy) among those undergoing right heart catheterization.
Observational (n=405)
Yes
How do healthcare resource utilization and medical costs vary by treatment intensity and diagnostic pathway in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension?
In Japanese patients with PAH, healthcare resource utilization and medical costs are substantial and increase significantly with the intensity of PAH-targeted therapy, particularly with parenteral prostacyclin analogue combinations.
The results revealed that HCRU and medical costs were especially high in those who were treated intensively with PPA combination therapy at first-line. In terms of extensive HCRU and associated medical costs, the limitations of existing treatment strategies for PAH were noted. In addition, these results highlight the need for innovative treatments to reduce the considerable disease burden described in this study.
Tajima et al. (2026) conducted an observational in Adults in Japan diagnosed with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) with PAH-targeted drug prescription, stratified by whether they underwent right heart catheterization (RHC) at baseline (n=405). PAH-targeted drug therapy with varying treatment intensity: oral/inhaled monotherapy, oral/inhaled combination therapy, and parenteral prostacyclin analogue (PPA) combination therapy vs. Comparison among treatment intensities and RHC status was evaluated on Healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) and direct medical costs during follow-up. Healthcare resource utilization and medical costs increased with treatment intensity in Japanese PAH patients, with mean annual costs ranging from 2.3 million JPY (oral/inhaled monotherapy) to 21.8 million JPY (PPA combination therapy) among those undergoing right heart catheterization.