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CompletedNCT01671618Updated Jun 30, 2016

Point-of-Care Focused Cardiac Ultrasound in Assessing the Thoracic Aorta

An observational study in Aortic Aneurysm, Thoracic and Aortic Dissection, sponsored by Yale University. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2016-06-30.

Sponsored by Yale University · Observational

Study type
Observational
Model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
97
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The purpose of this prospective study is to compare point-of-care focused cardiac ultrasound (FOCUS) to thoracic computed tomographic angiography (CTA) in the measurement of ascending aortic dimensions. We hypothesize that FOCUS will demonstrate good agreement with CTA in the measurement of ascending aortic dimensions and accurately detect dilation and aneurysmal disease.

Read the detailed description

Nonspecific chest pain is frequently encountered in the emergency department. Accounting for over 13,000 deaths annually, aortic aneurysmal disease is a potential cause of chest pain.There are multiple diagnostic imaging modalities in practice to interrogate the thoracic aorta, with the most common being computed tomographic angiography (CTA), trans-thoracic echocardiography (TTE) and trans-esophageal echocardiography (TEE), each with its own advantages and limitations. In the ED setting, point-of-care (POC) focused cardiac ultrasound (FOCUS) is increasingly being used as an adjunct to the emergency physician's (EP) workup of undifferentiated chest pain. Based on prior retrospective data FOCUS and CTA appear to have good agreement. This studies aims to confirm these findings through prospective evaluation

Specific Aims

Aim 1: To prospectively compare Point of Care (POC) Focused Cardiac Ultrasound (FOCUS) to thoracic computed tomographic angiography (CTA) in the measurement of ascending aortic dimensions.

Maximal diameter measurements of the ascending thoracic aorta by FOCUS will be compared to CTA. Bland Altman plots with 95% limits of agreement will be used to determine clinical and statistical significance.

Hypothesis: 95% limits of agreement between FOCUS and CTA will be within +/- 5 mm.

Aim 2: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of Point-of-Care Focused Cardiac Ultrasound for the detection of thoracic aortic dilation and aneurysm with computed tomographic angiography as the reference standard

Sensitivity, Specificity and Accuracy of FOCUS will be computed with CTA as the reference standard.

02

Conditions studied

  • Aortic Aneurysm, Thoracic
  • Aortic Dissection

Keywords

  • Aortic dissection
  • Aortic dilation
  • Aortic Aneurysm
  • ultrasound
  • point-of-care
  • echocardiography
03

In context

Aortic Dissection

385 studies on the registry are indexed under Aortic Dissection; 117 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 97 is below the median of 182 across 179 observational studies indexed under Aortic Dissection.

Browse Aortic Dissection studies →

Lead sponsor

Yale University is the lead sponsor of 1,724 studies on the registry; 298 are open to participants now.

Of its 210 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 126 (60%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No
Sampling method
Probability sample

Study population

Patients 18 years of age or older presenting to an urban, academic, and level I emergency department with estimated volume of approximately 90,000 patients per year.

Inclusion criteria

  • All patients aged 18 years and older presenting to the ED for whom a thoracic CTA has been ordered.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Refusal of verbal consent for ultrasound.
  • Inability to obtain informed written consent for data collection from either the patient or the patients decision-making surrogate
05

Study design

Observational model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
97 participants (actual)
06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Maximal diameter measurements of the proximal ascending aorta by CTA and FOCUS

    Maximal diameter measurements of the ascending thoracic aorta by FOCUS will be compared to CTA. Bland Altman plots with 95% limits of agreement will be used to determine clinical and statistical significance.

    Time frame: during emergency department visit (estimated average 3-6 hours)

Secondary outcomes

  1. Time to Emergency Department Disposition

    Time until an admission or discharge order is placed within the electronic medical record

    Time frame: estimated time frame 3-6 hours

  2. Number and percent probabilities of differential diagnosis

    Number and percent probabilities of differential diagnosis will be obtained before and after ultrasound to calculate the informational content provided by the ultrasound and perform additional uncertainty analyses

    Time frame: (estimated time frame 0 -3 hours)

  3. Time to diagnostic imaging

    Time when diagnostic imaging is performed

    Time frame: estimated time frame 0-6 hours

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Yale New Haven Hospital
    New Haven, Connecticut 06519, United States
08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jun 30, 2016, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT01671618
Lead sponsor
Yale University
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Aug 23, 2012
Start date
Jul 2012
Primary completion
Jul 2013
Completion
Jul 2013
Last update
Jun 30, 2016

Study contacts

Richard A Taylor, MD
principal investigator · Yale University

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Jun 2016. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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