View clinical trials related to Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm.
Filter by:Thoracic aneurysm incidence is estimated to 4.5 cases per 100 000. The manifestation as well as natural history of thoracic aneurysm depend on many factors such as its localisation, its diameter, presence of collagen disease and family history. For the ascendant aortic aneurysm, it is often linked to a degeneration of the media arterial layer of the arterial wall. The media degeneration is cause by the degeneration of the elastic fibres, which lead to a weakening of the arterial wall accompanied with dilation. This process is often due to age and is accelerated by high blood pressure. Amongst the numerous factors causing the aneurysm, the investigators find: hypertension, aortic bicuspid valve, smoking, atherosclerosis, trauma and genetic predisposition. The average growth rate of thoracic aneurysm is 0.1-0.2 cm/year. The risk of rupture is associated to the size of the aneurysm as well as patient's symptoms. The ruptures and dissections rates are accounted for 2-3/year for thoracic aneurysm between 5.5-6.0 cm in diameter. The patients are often limited in their daily life activities considering their concern and risk of rupture and/or dissect. The effects of exercise on the progression of the aneurysm dilation in patients with thoracic ascendant aortic aneurysm are unknown. It is well known that high blood pressure is a risk factor for rupture of the aortic aneurysm. Many studies have demonstrated the benefits of physical exercise regarding the lowering impact of blood pressure in a cardiac hypertensive population. At 3 and 6 months of the intervention, the subjects in the exercise group will have: 1) a lowered blood pressure at rest and during exercise, 2) maintenance/ improvement of muscle strength, 3) improvement of aerobic exercise capacity (VO2max), and 4) aortic dilation that remained stable or comparable to the control group. The research objective is to measure and compare to a control group, the effects of an exercise program on the following parameters: blood pressure response at rest and during exercise, as well as the VO2max at 3 and 6 months time of the intervention. This randomised and prospective study will take place at the " Institut Universitaire de Cardiologie et de Pneumologie du Québec (IUCPQ) " and will include patients who have a non-surgical ascendant thoracic aortic aneurysm (ATAA). The selected subjects will be randomised into two groups: 1) exercise group (n=15), and 2) control group (n=15). Both groups will be met prior to the intervention (baseline) and at 3 and 6 months time of the intervention, and measures described below will be recorded.
EndoAnchors (Heli-FX device, Medtronic, Santa Rosa) have beed described to improve fixation (mimicking an open surgical anastomosis) during or after EVAR/TEVAR. The investigators want to describe the outcomes of all consecutive patients treated with this device (retrospective and prospective data - observational study)
Patients with bicuspid aortic valve-related aortopathy are at increased risk of aortic dilatation, dissection and rupture. Currently, risk stratification is largely based on aortic diameter measurements, with those deemed high risk referred for aortic replacement surgery. This approach is imperfect, and potentially exposes many patients to unnecessary high-risk aortic surgery, or fails to identify those at risk of dissection or rupture with smaller diameters. In patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms, the investigators recently demonstrated that uptake of 18F-sodium fluoride predicts disease progression and clinical events independent of aneurysm diameter and standard clinical risk factors. Based on the investigators preliminary data, a study was proposed to look at 18F-sodium fluoride uptake in patients with bicuspid aortic valve-related aortopathy. The proposed study will shed light on the underlying pathological processes involved in aortic complications of this disease as well as potentially providing an important risk marker to predict disease progression and guide the need for major aortic surgery.
Thoracic endovascular repair (TEVAR) and transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) are standard of care procedures to treat thoracic aortic aneurysm or severe aortic stenosis, respectively. Both procedures have a high risk of stroke and silent infarction. Gas has been detected in the cerebral vasculature during these procedures and associated with DWI positive lesions on MRI. The hypothesis is that air emboli contribute to stroke and silent infarction. The investigators propose addressing air emboli by flushing the device with carbon dioxide prior to flushing with saline. This is a pilot study comparing standard saline flush alone to carbon dioxide flushing with saline flush.
Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) for disease involving the aortic arch remains complex and challenging due the angulation and tortuosity of the arch and its peculiar biomechanical environment. Currently, TEVAR planning is based on the analysis of anatomical features by means of static imaging protocols. Such an approach, however, disregards the impact of pulsatile forces that are transmitted as migration forces on the terminal fixation sites of the endograft, and may jeopardize the long-term clinical success of the procedure. Hence,the investigators aim to assess the migration forces acting on different proximal landing zones of the aortic arch by computational modeling, and develop in silico patient-specific simulations that can provide a quantitative evaluation of the stent-graft performance. Study's results are expected to provide valuable insights for proper proximal landing zone and stent-graft selection during TEVAR planning, and ultimately improve postoperative outcome.
The main purpose of this study is to define the complex genetic and pathogenic basis of thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) and other forms of aortopathy and/or aortic valve disease by identifying novel disease-causing genes and by identifying important genetic modifiers for aortic and aortic valve disease severity.
The use of TEVAR is increasing rapidly and patients even in younger patients. However, current endografts are several orders of magnitude stiffer than the native aorta. Pre-clinical and clinical studies have reported acute aortic stiffening after TEVAR resulting in hypertension, elevated pulse pressure, cardiac remodeling, reduced coronary perfusion, and finally, heart failure. These effects are markedly profound in young patients, as their hearts and aortas are more compliant. Previous studies on adverse cardiovascular remodeling have important limitations, such as retrospective design, use of echocardiography (with low reproducibility and high operator-dependency), and mixed populations. A systematic assessment of the deleterious effects of TEVAR is still missing. The objective of this study is to perform a prospective, non-randomized controlled, study in which blood pressure, heart rate, ECG, echocardiography, CT, MRI, intra-luminal hemodynamic assessment, computational modeling and biomarkers are used to assess cardiovascular remodeling following TEVAR. This study targets patients with thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAA) or penetrating aortic ulcers (PAU) treated with TEVAR. A control group will consist of TAA and PAU subjects who do not require endovascular treatment. The specific aims of the study include: 1) Quantification of cardiovascular remodeling following TEVAR in TAA or PAU patients. 2) Validation of computational modeling of thoracic aortic hemodynamics following TEVAR using the above clinical measurements. Once validated, computational analyses will be performed to virtually assess the impact of more compliant endografts on cardiac and aortic hemodynamics. 3) Investigation of diagnostic accuracy of ECG, BNP, NT-pro-BNP and Troponin T, for cardiac remodeling compared to MRI, the reference method. This study will assess the impact of thoracic aortic stent grafts on the cardiovascular system through non-invasive measurements. Although there are no direct benefits for the enrolled subjects, future aortic patients might benefit from better patient management with improved aortic endograft designs and long-term outcomes.
A multicenter, prospective, open-label, non-randomized, interventional clinical study, sponsored by Endospan Ltd. Patients will be followed-up for five years.
The purpose of this study is to compare the contrast agents and imaging techniques used for thoracoabdominal aortic imaging in CT. Imaging parameters and contrast volume are changed and adjusted based on the contrast agent, since contrast agents have varying iodine concentrations. If the contrast iodine concentration is higher, it may be possible to adjust the imaging parameters and lower the overall radiation dose to the patient.
The primary objectives of the study are - to assess the contribution of alteration of each known gene on non-syndromic TAA. - to map and identify unknown gene involved in the non-syndromic TAA.