How microsimulation translates outcome estimates to patient lifetime event occurrence in the setting of heart valve disease

Maximiliaan L. Notenboom, Reda Rhellab, Jonathan R.G. Etnel, Simone A. Huygens, Jesper Hjortnaes, Jolanda Kluin, Johanna J.M. Takkenberg, Kevin M. Veen*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Treatment decisions in healthcare often carry lifelong consequences that can be challenging to foresee. As such, tools that visualize and estimate outcome after different lifetime treatment strategies are lacking and urgently needed to support clinical decision-making in the setting of rapidly evolving healthcare systems, with increasingly numerous potential treatments. In this regard, microsimulation models may prove to be valuable additions to current risk-prediction models. Notable advantages of microsimulation encompass input from multiple data sources, the ability to move beyond time-To-first-event analysis, accounting for multiple types of events and generating projections of lifelong outcomes. This review aims to clarify the concept of microsimulation, also known as individualized state-Transition models, and help clinicians better understand its potential in clinical decision-making. A practical example of a patient with heart valve disease is used to illustrate key components of microsimulation models, such as health states, transition probabilities, input parameters (e.g. evidence-based risks of events) and various aspects of mortality. Finally, this review focuses on future efforts needed in microsimulation to allow for increasing patient-Tailoring of the models by extending the general structure with patient-specific prediction models and translating them to meaningful, user-friendly tools that may be used by both clinician and patient to support clinical decision-making.

Original languageEnglish
Article numberezae087
JournalEuropean Journal of Cardio-thoracic Surgery
Volume65
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.

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