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Active, not recruitingNCT03414866THORUpdated Jul 9, 2025

Thoraflex Hybrid Post-Market Study

An observational study in Acute Aortic Dissection, Aortic Rupture and Penetrating Aortic Ulcer, sponsored by Vascutek Ltd.. Active, not recruiting at 7 sites in 4 countries. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-07-09.

Sponsored by Vascutek Ltd. (part of Terumo Corporation) · Observational

Study type
Observational
Model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
182
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This is a global, prospective non-interventional, multi-centre, post-market study of the Vascutek Thoraflex™ Hybrid system in patients with acute thoracic aortic syndrome, subacute/chronic dissection of the aorta and aortic aneurysm.

Read the detailed description

Aortic arch pathologies are rare, but pose significant challenges for treatment involving open surgical or endovascular repair.

In 1983 the Elephant Trunk technique was introduced and has greatly facilitated the management of patients with extensive thoracic aortic disease.

In recent years, this traditional open surgery has been combined with thoracic endovascular repair (TEVAR) and this is known as the 'hybrid' approach. Hybrid repairs, consisting of an open surgical repair combined with endovascular techniques.

Further advancement in the types of prosthesis available has resulted in the evolution of the conventional ET technique into the frozen elephant trunk (FET) technique. This utilises devices that incorporate both a traditional dacron graft (for open surgical treatment of the aortic arch) and a stented graft portion (for treatment of the descending thoracic aorta). The stented portion of the graft is introduced via an antegrade approach through the transected arch. The FET technique is now commonly used to treat patients with extensive thoracic or thoraco-abdominal aortic disease.

Vascutek Ltd has developed the Thoraflex™ Hybrid Device (Plexus™ 4 and Ante-Flo™) for the repair or replacement of damaged or diseased vessels of the ascending aorta, aortic arch and descending thoracic aorta in cases of aneurysm and/or dissection. The Thoraflex™ Hybrid Device is one of the commercially available frozen elephant trunk prosthesis.

Over 3000 Thoraflex™ Hybrid Devices have been sold and the current study seeks to provide further evidence of the continuing safety and effectiveness of the device.

02

Conditions studied

  • Acute Aortic Dissection
  • Aortic Rupture
  • Penetrating Aortic Ulcer
  • Aortic Dissection
  • Aortic Aneurysm, Thoracic

Keywords

  • Thoracic Aorta
  • Dissection
  • Aneurysm
  • Frozen Elephant Trunk
03

In context

Penetrating Atherosclerotic Ulcer

24 studies on the registry are indexed under Penetrating Atherosclerotic Ulcer; 9 are open to participants now.

Browse Penetrating Atherosclerotic Ulcer studies →

Lead sponsor

Vascutek Ltd. is the lead sponsor of 17 studies on the registry; 5 are open to participants now.

First submitted after Vascutek Ltd. became part of Terumo Corporation.

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
Non-probability sample

Study population

60 patients with acute thoracic aortic syndrome, including: acute dissection, aortic rupture and penetrating aortic ulcer (PAU)

60 patients with a subacute/chronic dissection of the aorta

60 patients with an aortic aneurysm

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Patient is aged 18 years or over on date of consent
  • Patient is willing and able to comply with all study procedures and study visits
  • Patient or their legally authorised representative (LAR) has given written to participate in study. For emergency patients only, retrospective consent is permissible
  • Patient satisfies the inclusion criteria for one of the following categories:

A - Patient has acute thoracic aortic syndrome or B - Patient has subacute/ chronic dissection of the aorta or C - Patient has an aortic aneurysm (including connective tissue disorders)

A. Patients with acute thoracic aortic syndrome:

Patient has acute thoracic aortic syndrome and requires repair or replacement of damaged or diseased vessels of the aortic arch (with or without involvement of the ascending aorta), and the descending aorta requires replacement, or, in the opinion of the investigator, the patient would derive clinical benefit from prophylactic treatment of the descending aorta. This includes patients with acute dissections, rupture of the aorta or PAU.

B. Patients with subacute/chronic dissection of the aorta:

  • Patient requires repair or replacement of damaged or diseased vessels of the aortic arch and descending aorta with or without involvement of the ascending aorta due to subacute/chronic dissection.

And patient satisfies one or more of the following criteria:

  • Patient has aortic sinus, or ascending aorta, or aortic arch, or descending aorta diameter ≥5.5cm (including if asymptomatic) or
  • Patient has aorta diameter \<5.5cm and growth rate ≥0.5cm/year (including if asymptomatic) or
  • Patient has ascending aorta diameter ≥4.5cm and requires valve repair or replacement

C. Patients with an aortic aneurysm (including connective tissue disorders):

  • Patient requires repair or replacement of damaged or diseased vessels of the aortic arch and descending aorta with or without involvement of the ascending aorta

And patient satisfies one or more of the following criteria:

  • Patient has aortic sinus, or ascending aorta, or aortic arch, or descending aorta diameter ≥5.5cm (including if asymptomatic) or
  • Patient has aorta diameter \<5.5cm and growth rate ≥0.5cm/year (including if asymptomatic) or
  • Patient has ascending aorta diameter ≥4.5cm and requires valve repair or replacement.

or

  • Patient has Marfan syndrome or other genetically mediated disorders with aortic sinus, or ascending aorta, or arch diameter ≥4.5cm, or, the ratio of the maximal ascending or aortic root area (Π r2) in cm2 divided by the patient's height in meters exceeds 10

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patient is unfit for open surgical repair involving circulatory arrest
  • Patient has known sensitivity to polyester, nitinol or materials of bovine origin
  • Patient has active endocarditis or an active infective disorder of the aorta
  • Patient has an active systemic infection that, in the opinion of the investigator, would compromise the outcome of the surgical procedure
  • Patient is enrolled in another active study and has received an product (device, pharmaceutical or biologic) within 6 months prior to the date of the implant or has not reached the primary endpoint of the study, which in the opinion of the Investigator will impact on this study
  • Patient has an uncorrectable bleeding anomaly
  • Patient has renal failure (defined as dialysis dependent)
  • Patient has known sensitivity to radiopaque contrast agents that cannot be adequately pre-treated
  • Patient has a co-morbidity causing expected survival to be less than 1 year
  • Patient has any other medical, social or psychological problems that in the opinion of the investigator preclude them from receiving this treatment and the procedures and evaluations pre and post procedure
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(2)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

Investigational drug or device

A drug or device being studied in a clinical trial.

It may be new, or already approved and being studied for another use, dose or form. Criteria often leave out people who took part in another study of one within a recent period, commonly 30 days or five half-lives.

05

Study design

Observational model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
182 participants (actual)
Patient registry
No

Groups and cohorts

  • Acute thoracic aortic syndrome

    60 patients, standard of care (non-interventional) EQ-5D-5L QOL Questionnaire

    Behavioral: EQ-5D-5L QOL questionnaire

  • Subacute/chronic dissection of the aorta

    60 patients, standard of care (non-interventional) EQ-5D-5L QOL Questionnaire

    Behavioral: EQ-5D-5L QOL questionnaire

  • Aortic aneurysm

    60 patients, standard of care (non-interventional) EQ-5D-5L QOL Questionnaire

    Behavioral: EQ-5D-5L QOL questionnaire

Interventions

  • BehavioralEQ-5D-5L QOL questionnaire

    Written questionnaire

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Freedom from Major Adverse Event

    The primary endpoint will be freedom from the following composite Major Adverse Event (MAE): permanent stroke , permanent paraplegia/paraparesis, unanticipated aortic related re-operation (excluding re-operation for bleeding) and aortic related mortality

    Time frame: 1 year post-procedure

07

Study locations

7 sites
08

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Ran from May 2018 to primary completion in Apr 2025, 83 months.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Jan 23, 2018
First posted
Jan 30, 2018
StartActual
May 25, 2018
Primary completionActual
Apr 25, 2025
CompletionEst.
Jul 2026
Last update
Jul 9, 2025
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jul 9, 2025, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03414866
Lead sponsor
Vascutek Ltd.
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Jan 30, 2018
Start date
May 25, 2018
Primary completion
Apr 25, 2025
Completion
Jul 2026 (estimated)
Last update
Jul 9, 2025

Study contacts

Malakh Shrestha, Prof. Dr.
principal investigator · Hannover Medical School

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is active, not recruiting, as verified in Jul 2025. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

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