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113 active trials for Atherosclerosis

Evaluation of the Neointimal Healing by OCT of the Tapered DES Biomime Morph (TAPER-I Study)

The long and very long stents, although they represent a greater navigability challenge, especially in tortuous and calcified coronary arteries, they have the advantage of providing shorter procedural time, with less contrast use, less exposure to radiation, lower cost, lower risk of occlusion of lateral branches, as well as less interference in the local flow. However, in the context of the use of such long stents, as some vessels have a tapering shape, with a progressively smaller diameter in their more distal segments (as is the typical case of the left anterior descending artery), a significant disproportion (mismatch) of vessel size between the proximal and distal landing zone of the stent can be noted. Such disproportion may lead to the underestimation of the proximal reference or overestimation of the distal reference diameter of the vessel, generating an increase of the stress on the vessel wall, with consequent increase in the risk of restenosis. In view of this situation, long or very long stents were developed in a tapered shape, with progressive reduction of their diameter between their proximal and distal portion, respecting the phenomenon of tapering of the coronary artery during the treatment of very long lesions.Some of these stents also have a hybrid design, with closed cells at the ends and open cells in the middle, allowing a more efficient expansion in their middle portion (thus avoiding the dog-boning phenomenon). However, there is still a lack of studies in the literature evaluating whether these DES in a tapered shape and hybrid cells may effectively heal over time, specially with respect to strut covering and strut malapposition. Thus, this is a prospective, single-arm, open-label study, including patients presenting at least one long or very long lesion (? 30 mm), who will undergo angioplasty with a tapered DES. The objective is to analyze the neointimal healing as well as other data on the efficacy and safety of the tapered DES Biomime Morph in patients with long or very long lesions.

Start: November 2019
Angiogenic Markers in Cerebrovascular Disease (ANFIS)

Intracranial atherosclerosis (ICAS) is the most common cause of stroke worldwide. It carries a worse prognosis than other stroke etiologies, with an annual rate of recurrent stroke and death of 15% despite intensive medical management, and as high as 35% in certain populations. Overall, treatment and prevention of stroke due to ICAS has been unsuccessful. While two recent clinical trials have shown modest improvement in the efficacy of intensive medical treatment, these trials were terminated early given the elevated rate of complications, stroke, and death in the interventional arms. In fact, intensive medical management appears to reduce the risk of embolism; however, medical management alone does not address the progression of intracranial arterial stenosis or the pathophysiologic components of hypoperfusion and poor collateral circulation. Levels and types of various angiogenic factors in the blood and tissues have been proposed to be predictive of patient outcome after ischemic stroke and treatment for stroke. This study therefore pursues a new paradigm to investigate responses to ICAS treatment from the perspective of cerebral collateral vessel generation and the role of angiogenic factors. Specifically, pro- and anti-angiogenic factors in patients with ICAS are evaluated at baseline and longitudinally in response to both medical and surgical treatment. For this we have developed methodologies for the isolation and measurement of these growth factors in plasma of patients with ICAS. These methodologies will enable us to obtain a detailed understanding of the variation and dynamic properties of local and circulating angiogenic factors over time in response to medical and surgical treatment, and their association to outcome phenotypes. This analysis is complemented by studies of angiographic development of neovascularization. If successful, this study will help to better understand the role of angiogenesis in ICAS and create a foundation from which to explore therapeutic treatments for ICAS which harness the natural processes of angiogenesis.

Start: July 2012