Active clinical trials for "Aortic Aneurysm"

The purpose of this program of research is to determine whether curcumin, a natural health product, can prevent acute kidney injury and other complications after elective AAA repair. If proven safe and effective, curcumin is an inexpensive intervention which can be readily applied to almost 50,000 AAA repairs performed worldwide each year. New knowledge about this intervention may also guide its use in other surgical and medical settings to prevent complications to the kidneys, heart and other organs.

Many publications deal with the natural history of aortic aneurysms in literature. Except for connective tissue disorders as Marfan or Loeys-Dietz syndrome, aortic aneurysms are a complex multifactorial disease with genetic and environmental risk factors. Susceptibility loci identified in thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAA) and abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) do not overlap, suggesting that different genetic risk factors contribute to these two forms of aneuryms. With a higher prevalence correlated to ageing (5%), AAA is usually presented as the degenerative form of the disease. However, a recent epidemiologic study by Olsson et al. has revealed an increasing incidence of thoracic aortic disease among older individuals (70+/-12 years) with 60% of aneurysmal rupture or dissection at diagnosis, and a 1.7 :1 male-to-female ratio compared to 6:1 in AAA. From this current knowledge arises the concept of diffuse or plurisegmental degenerative aneurysmal aortic disease, poorly explored so far. As regards to the prevention policy, there is a consensus statement in which ultrasonography screening for AAA is recommended for all individuals aged > 60 years (particularly in men who have ever smoked) and for those aged > 50 years with family history of AAA. Nevertheless, screening for a concomittant thoracic location of the disease (except thoracoabdominal aneurysm) is not yet required, whereas it could change the prognosis of the patients and influence their management.

A prospective, actively controlled, consecutively enrolling, non-randomized multi center clinical evaluation of the safety and efficacy of the Boston Scientific ENOVUS AAA Endograft when used in the treatment of patients with AAA (Treatment Group) as compared to patients treated with conventional open surgery (Control Group).

Endovascular repair of aortic aneurysm and endovascular treatment of arteriosclerosis obliterans of lower extremities are two kinds of common surgeries in the investigators' hospital. The effects of anesthetic agents on postoperative outcome, especially cognitive function, are not clear. In this study investigators propose to measure postoperative cognitive function and other outcome of patients who are undergoing these two kinds of surgeries, and try to identify whether there is an association between different kinds of anesthetics and postoperative outcome. Investigators will also observe whether changes in plasma levels of VEGF, TGF-1, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6, are associated with postoperative delirium or cognitive change.

The purpose of this study is to investigate prevalence of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) among male patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Secondary purpose is to document cost-effectiveness of ultrasound screening of AAA in selected population. Ethiology of AAA is known to be common with atherosclerotic arterial diseases, and on the basis of our previous studies (ClinicalTrials.gov ID CAD-AAA-02) the prevalence of AAA seems to be higher in CAD population than unselected male population. This leads to hypothesis that selective screening of these patients (for AAA) could be cost-efficient and life saving option for detecting AAAs before rupture. Study will be carried out as a single-center prospective screening study. Patients will be selected for this study on basis of their ICD 10 diagnose codes in North Carelian patient information system. Inclusion criteria will be any kind of atherosclerotic heart disease (ICD10 codes I20-I25). Criteria for exclusion are malignant disease, already diagnosed or treated AAA and failure to give informed consent. 800 patient records that meet the inclusion criteria will be reviewed for eligibility. Invitations for screening will be sent for 600 patients with intention to have at least 400 patients screened. Screening will be done by verified sonographers in designated screening appointments.

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is an abnormal dilatation of the aorta in the abdomen secondary to hypertension and atherosclerosis. Surgical treatment of AAA is increasingly being replaced by endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) using stent-grafts (SGs). However, the efficacy of this less invasive approach is often jeopardized by the incidence of persistent flow within the aneurysm, called endoleaks leading to aneurysm rupture if not properly detected and treated. Hence, a life long annual CT-scan surveillance is required increasing the cost of EVAR, exposing the patient to ionizing radiation and nephrotoxic contrast agent. The goal of this project is to adapt and test a new ultrasound technology called ultrasound elastography to improve patient follow-up after EVAR and ultimately avoid the use of CT-scans. This technique measures the deformation of the tissue secondary to blood pressure variation (quasi-static elastography) or to a shear wave generated by the ultrasound probe (dynamic elastography). The investigators will optimize 2 approaches to generate elastic maps of the AAA. One approach will be a quasi-static elastography (QSE-LSME) technique developed by our team giving an estimation of the deformation (strain) of the different components of the AAA by the blood pressure. The second is a dynamic elastography (SSWI) technique that will provide information on the elastic property of the AAA components.

The aim of the study is to analyze the efficacy of the surgical tretment in patients with ascending aortic aneurysm and dilatation. And to assess rate of negative clinical scenarios in non-oparated patients with ascending aortic dilatation

As potential biomarkers of pressure-related aortic damage, matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of aortic aneurysm because of the important role they play in connective tissue homeostasis. In particular, a significant reduction in initially elevated serum MMP - 9 concentrations, compared with healthy controls, demonstrated after the aortic repair in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm implies MMPs pivotal role in aortic aneurysms. Besides, due to an active degradation and repair processes taking place in the vascular wall governed by the balance between MMP enzymes and their inhibitors, MMP - 9, expression of which is predominantly associated with disruption of aortic elastic fibers, can also be detected in the serum of healthy subjects. Indeed, mechanical stress-induced upregulation of genes and their products stimulate MMP expression in the vascular wall, which is responsible for extracellular matrix degradation. Herein, it was hypothesized that reducing the acceleration rate of aortic pressure (aortic peak dP/dt) may decrease the mechanical stretch on the aortic wall which, may in turn, reduce the expression and serum levels of MMP-9.

The goal is to non-invasively study the metabolic processes within the aortic wall that are thought to explain progression to clinical manifestations of an aortic aneurysm. Hypothesis is that the non-invasive imaging of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) with contrast ultrasound, coupled with serum biomarker measurements will allow the identification of the vulnerable aortic wall and patients who are at risk of AAA growth or rupture.

2. Purpose of the Study - To determine the feasibility of Clevidipine use for rapidly achieving and maintaining individually specified patient BP target ranges in the pre and postoperative periods of aortic aneurysm and dissection management. To determine the safety of Clevidipine use in the pre and postoperative periods of aneurysm and dissection management Background & Significance - Surgical treatments for persons with aortic root/arch dissection or aneurysm have significantly improved survival. However, critical in management of these patients is precise control of blood pressure (BP). With increasing BP, both acute and chronic, the risk of fatal and nonfatal vascular complications is imminent. Similarly, with excessive lowering of arterial pressures, cerebral, spinal cord, cardiac, and renal ischemic hypoperfusion is also noteworthy. Typically, the target systolic blood pressure range for these patients is 100-120 mmHg. Several different classes of vasoactive agents are in current use to acutely manage BP but none possess the optimal profile of an ideal vasodilator. Notable limitations include inadequate potency, slow onset and offset of action, multiple receptor function, safety concerns and, importantly, restricted/ineffective titration, which results in clinically significant hemodynamic and cardiovascular perturbations. Recently, the ultra short-acting intravenous dihydropyridine calcium-channel blocker clevidipine (Cleviprex, The Medicines Company) was approved for management of BP in critical care settings. Clevidipine's pharmacology lends itself to acute management of BP in a broad critical care setting in both surgical and nonsurgical patients. In the current study, the investigators propose to further characterize the hemodynamic effect of CLV in the pre and post-operative management of BP in patients with aortic aneurysm/dissection. Design & Procedures Eligible patients will be approached to participate in the study by the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) attending and/or by a cardiothoracic surgical/anesthesiology fellow or a cardiac research nurse. All aspects of clinical management and monitoring will be according to standard practice that includes: ECG Oxymetry Temperature Invasive arterial blood pressure Recording of routine laboratory results Imaging studies including CT/MRI (A)/ Echocardiography Pulmonary artery catheter (postoperative patients) Mechanical ventilation (postoperative patients) According to established protocol for acute intravenous management of arterial blood pressure in these patients, an upper and lower threshold of systolic blood pressure will be prescribed by the attending physician (the range being (100 mmHg -120 mm Hg SBP). Hemodynamic data will be collected continuously via a bedside laptop as well as pertinent clinical data and information about efficacy and safety will be recorded. • Subjective evaluation of efficacy of CLV (questionnaire format to be completed by the critical care team)