Figure 4.

Marginal cost-effectiveness ratio (mCER) of high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) chest screening in relationship to the ability to accurately diagnose the exact diffuse cystic lung disease (DCLD) on the basis of imaging features alone. This analysis demonstrates that as the sensitivity of HRCT to diagnose DCLD increases, the strategy of HRCT screening becomes more cost effective. However, at all sensitivity values of HRCT tested in our analysis, the strategy of HRCT screening remained cost effective, with an mCER substantially below the conventional cost-effectiveness threshold of $50,000 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained. Arrow denotes the base case in our analysis.