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Hemiarch vs Extended Arch in Type 1 Aortic Dissection

Hemiarch vs Extended Arch in Aortic Dissection - a SystemaTic Analysis by Randomized Trial (HEADSTART)

Status
Recruiting
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT03885635
Acronym
HEADSTART
Enrollment
50
Registered
2019-03-21
Start date
2024-07-30
Completion date
2027-03-31
Last updated
2025-09-22

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Aortic Dissection

Brief summary

HEADSTART is a prospective, open-label, non-blinded, multicenter, randomized controlled trial that compares a composite of mortality and re-intervention in patients undergoing hemiarch and extended arch repair for acute DeBakey type 1 aortic dissection. Eligible patients will be randomized to one or the other surgical strategy and clinical and imaging outcome data will be collected over a 3 year follow up period.

Detailed description

DeBakey Type 1 aortic dissections continue to have high operative mortality and morbidity and there is equipoise in available literature with regards to the best operative strategy and patient selection criteria. Hemiarch repair is current standard of care in most centers but extended arch repair is gaining popularity aiming to address early post-operative malperfusion and improve long term aortic remodeling. HEADSTART is a randomized controlled prospective trial of patients presenting to participating institutes with acute DeBakey 1 aortic dissection. Patients will be enrolled and randomized into one of two groups - 'hemiarch repair' and 'extended arch repair'. Pre-operative, early post-operative and long term follow clinical and CT imaging data will be collated on a centralized database and at a core lab respectively.

Interventions

PROCEDUREHemiarch repair

Current standard of surgical repair consisting of ascending aortic replacement with open distal anastomosis at level of proximal arch under a period of hypothermic circulatory arrest . No surgical or endovascular intervention is carried out in the mid arch or descending aorta. Intra-operative management, including cannulation, cardioplegia, cerebral perfusion technique, and neurologic monitoring will be done according to each institution's current standard of practice.

PROCEDUREExtended arch repair

Surgical replacement of the ascending aorta along with intervention on the arch and descending aorta. Techniques for distal aspect of extended arch technique include but are not limited to total arch replacement along with TEVAR, Frozen Elephant Trunk procedure or surgical proximal arch replacement with bare metal stents in arch and descending aorta. Intra-operative management, including cannulation, cardioplegia, cerebral perfusion technique, and neurologic monitoring will be done according to each institution's current standard of practice.

Sponsors

Ottawa Heart Institute Research Corporation
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Intervention model description

Hemiarch vs. extended arch repair in the setting of acute DeBakey type 1 aortic dissections

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 70 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

1. Emergent surgical repair of Acute DeBakey Type 1 aortic dissection 2. Age \>18 years and \<70 years 3. Operating surgeon believes that both surgeries could be safe and effective

Exclusion criteria

1. Hemodynamic instability/shock defined as systolic BP \< 90 mm Hg 2. Previous cardiac surgery with sternotomy or thoracic endograft placement 3. Aortic arch diameter \> 6cm in which a concomitant arch replacement is judged necessary 4. Procedures deemed to be salvage operations where the patient is unlikely to survive hospital discharge. 5. GCS \< 8 for more than 6 hours 6. History of cirrhosis. 7. History of chronic renal failure (baseline eGFR \< 50) 8. Metastatic malignancy 9. Pregnancy

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Number of patients experiencing a composite end-point of mortality or re-intervention3 yearsCompare the proportion of patients between the two groups who over a 3 year follow up period attain a composite clinical end-point of 1) mortality, 2) late aortic re-intervention, either surgical or endovascular (\> 30 days from index procedure) or 3) early (\< 30 days from index procedure) re-intervention for branch malperfusion

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Delta change in the ratio of true lumen to total aortic area (TL: Ao)1 monthCompare delta change in the ratio of true lumen to total aortic area (TL:Ao) in the descending thoracic and abdominal aorta from pre-operative to first post-operative CT scans, between the two groups.
Delta change in maximum cross-sectional descending thoracic aortic dimension3 yearsCompare delta change in the maximum cross-sectional descending thoracic dimension between the two groups over 3 years
Number of patients achieving complete false lumen thrombosis on CT imaging3 yearsCompare the proportions of patients achieving complete false lumen (FL) thrombosis in the proximal, mid and distal descending thoracic aorta at 3 years after intervention between the two groups
Number of patients requiring open surgical or endovascular re-intervention3 yearsCompare the proportion of patients requiring open surgical and endovascular re-intervention over 3 years in both groups
Preoperative malperfusion and perioperative mortality/early re-intervention1 monthCorrelate pre-operative CT signs of malperfusion with peri-operative mortality and early post-operative re-intervention in both groups
Number of patients experiencing the listed peri-operative complications1 monthTo compare the proportion of patients experiencing the following peri-operative complications between the two groups: mortality, stroke, paraplegia/paraparesis, vascular injury, renal ischemia, bowel ischemia warranting operative intervention, peripheral limb ischemic changes and re-operation for bleeding.

Countries

Canada

Contacts

Primary ContactKhatira Mehdiyeva
kmehdiyeva@ottawaheart.ca613-696-7000
Backup ContactAlice Black
AlBlack@ottawaheart.ca403-389-8958

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026