Does genomic sequencing early in the diagnostic trajectory make a difference? A follow-up study of clinical outcomes and cost-effectiveness

Zornitza Stark, Deborah Schofield, Melissa Martyn, Luke Rynehart, Rupendra Shrestha, Khurshid Alam, Sebastian Lunke, Tiong Y. Tan, Clara L. Gaff*, Susan M. White

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

126 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Purpose: To systematically investigate the longer-term clinical and health economic impacts of genomic sequencing for rare-disease diagnoses.

Methods: We collected information on continuing diagnostic investigation, changes in management, cascade testing, and parental reproductive outcomes in 80 infants who underwent singleton whole-exome sequencing (WES).

Results: The median duration of follow-up following result disclosure was 473 days. Changes in clinical management due to diagnostic WES results led to a cost saving of AU$1,578 per quality-adjusted life year gained, without increased hospital service use. Uninformative WES results contributed to the diagnosis of non-Mendelian conditions in seven infants. Further usual diagnostic investigations in those with ongoing suspicion of a genetic condition yielded no new diagnoses, while WES data reanalysis yielded four. Reanalysis at 18 months was more cost-effective than every 6 months. The parents of diagnosed children had eight more ongoing pregnancies than those without a diagnosis. Taking the costs and benefits of cascade testing and reproductive service use into account, there was an additional cost of AU$8,118 per quality-adjusted life year gained due to genomic sequencing.

Conclusion: These data strengthen the case for the early use of genomic testing in the diagnostic trajectory, and can guide laboratory policy on periodic WES data reanalysis.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)173-180
Number of pages8
JournalGenetics in Medicine
Volume21
Issue number1
Early online date15 May 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2019
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Correction to the article published in Genetics in Medicine (2019) 21:516; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41436-018-0078-5

Keywords

  • cost-effectiveness
  • QALY
  • reanalysis
  • whole-exome sequencing

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