Aneurysm clinical trials at UCSF

The purpose of this study is to gather preliminary safety and effectiveness data on Citadel Embolization Device in the treatment of wide-neck intracranial aneurysms.

This trial is being conducted in order to compare angiographic outcomes in patients receiving 0.014-0.0155" platinum framing and filling coils (larger diameter coils) versus those treated solely with coils less than 0.014" (with a standard diameter). Hypothesis: Angiographic occlusion at follow-up imaging will be more frequent in patients receiving 0.014-0.0155" platinum coils during embolization compared to those receiving smaller-diameter coils.

Patients harboring dolichoectactic vertebrobasilar (DVB) aneurysms are at risk of suffering SAH, ischemic stroke, and/or brainstem compression and many patients are not offered invasive treatment due to the futility of existing surgical methods. Consequently, there is demand for development of medical therapy for DVB aneurysms

The ascending aorta conducts blood from the heart to the rest of the body. The ascending aorta can become enlarged, and the risk of tearing and rupturing becomes higher with larger aorta. When the ascending aorta tears or ruptures, the risk dying is high even if surgery is done as soon as possible. Traditionally, when the ascending aorta gets above 5.5 cm, surgery is recommended to replace the aorta. However, this threshold is based relatively weak evidence, and sometimes patients with smaller aorta can tear or rupture. On the other hand, surgery carries its own risk as well. Since there are risk of waiting or doing surgery, there is currently no great support for either approach for patients with a smaller aorta. In the TITAN SvS trial, patients with an ascending aorta between 5.0 to 5.5 cm is assigned by chance to the early surgery group, in which they will undergo replacement of aorta, or the surveillance group, in which they will be closely monitored. The chance of dying or suffer tearing or rupture of aorta between the two groups will be compared. The result of the trial will guide future practice for patients with enlarged ascending aorta. This is a prospective, multi-centre randomized control trial that compares the all-cause mortality, aneurysm-related aortic events, rate of stroke, and quality of life for those patients undergoing early elective ascending aortic surgery to those patients undergoing surveillance. Patients referred for an ascending aortic aneurysm that meets the inclusion criteria will be randomized to the early elective surgery group or the surveillance group. Recruitment will end when the desired sample size is reached, and the patients will be followed for a minimum 2-year period. The primary objective of the trial is to compare the composite outcome of the all-cause mortality and incidence of acute aortic events between surveillance and elective ascending aortic surgery for patients with degenerative or bicuspid valve-related ascending aortic aneurysm after 2 years of follow up. The hypothesis is that the early surgery group will have a significantly lower all-cause mortality and incidence of acute aortic events at 2 years of follow up compare to the surveillance group. The result of this trial will provide evidence based guidance in the appropriate management of ascending aortic aneurysm based on the size criteria, and establish a large database for future investigations.

Accurate preoperative identification of patients at high risk for adverse outcomes would be clinically advantageous, as it would allow enhanced resource preparation, better surgical decision-making, enhanced patient education and informed consent, and potentially even modification of certain modifiable risk factors. The aim of the Prediction of adverse events after microsurgery for intracranial unruptured aneurysms (PRAEMIUM) study is therefore to develop and externally validate a clinically applicable, robust ML-based prediction tool based on multicenter data from a range of international centers.

The Zenith®Fenestrated AAA Endovascular Graft Clinical Study is a clinical investigation approved by the US FDA to study the safety and effectiveness of the Zenith® Fenestrated AAA Endovascular Graft in the treatment of abdominal aortic and aorto-iliac aneurysms.