An interventional study of Aortic valve replacement in Aortic Stenosis, sponsored by University of Leicester. Recruiting at 110 sites in 7 countries. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-07-21.
Sponsored by University of Leicester · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention
Aortic stenosis (AS) affects approximately 5% of individuals >65 years old, with \~3% of people >75 years having moderate to severe disease. The prevalence of AS is rising rapidly due to an ageing population and is projected to double in the next two decades. Increasingly clinicians face the dilemma of how to best manage this growing population of mainly elderly patients, many of whom are asymptomatic but have been identified as having severe AS, often as an incidental finding. Reduced aortic valve opening progresses over decades without any apparent symptoms because the heart compensates for the AS. Ultimately, compensatory mechanisms fail resulting in angina, syncope or heart failure. If these symptomatic patients with severe AS remain untreated, they have a dire prognosis. In this situation the only effective treatment is AVR, either surgically or using TAVI. Conversely, conventional teaching and clinical practice in cardiology has been that, in the absence of symptoms, the prognosis is usually excellent and, except in a few very specific circumstances, conservative management and regular review (expectant management) is recommended. This advice is reflected in current international guidelines but is based largely on historical precedent. There has never been a randomised controlled trial to address the relative benefits of early AVR versus expectant management in patients with severe asymptomatic AS. The relative benefits of a strategy of early AVR/TAVI versus expectant management in patients with asymptomatic severe AS are unclear. There is clinical equipoise but it remains one of the few areas of cardiovascular medicine where no randomised controlled trials (RCT) have been performed. The EASY-AS study will provide crucial data on the relative merits of these differing approaches to management, in terms of important patient orientated outcomes, conventional cardiovascular end-points and cost effectiveness.
This is a major pragmatic multi-centre prospective parallel group open RCT. It will be conducted in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, funding is being sought in several countries to expand recruitment internationally. The study is in 2 phases: the vanguard and main phase. Therefore the study will run an internal pilot to prove recruitment of the relevant number of participants during the initial 2 years.
The over-arching aim is to determine whether early AVR results in better clinical outcomes and cost-effectiveness than a strategy of expectant management in asymptomatic patients with severe AS.
The primary hypothesis is that early AVR or TAVI in asymptomatic patients with severe AS will result in a reduction in the composite primary outcome of cardiovascular (CV) death and hospitalisation for heart failure (HHF) when compared to the conventional approach of expectant management.
Potential participants will be identified by a member of the clinical care team following diagnosis with severe AS. Participants will be screened for eligibility using pre-specified inclusion/exclusion criteria. Eligible participants will be provided with a written version of the participant information sheet detailing the exact nature of the study, what it will involve for the participant and any risks involved with taking part. Participants will be given at least 24 hours to consider the information and decide whether or not to take part. The study will randomise up to 2104 patients with severe asymptomatic AS to either allocated expectant management OR aortic valve replacement. Participants randomised to AVR will be placed on a waiting list with the aim that surgery will be performed within 6 months, dependent on local hospitals' waiting lists. Participants randomised to AVR will undergo routine tests/procedures which may include coronary angiography. If the outcome of the coronary angiography reveals coronary heart disease, the decision to perform CABG or PCI will be made by the responsible cardiac surgeon and cardiologist, in consultation with the patient. All analyses will be undertaken using the principles of intention-to-treat with participants analysed in the group they were randomised regardless of treatment received.
EASY-AS is collaborating with the EVoLVeD study (Early Valve Replacement guided by Biomarkers of Left Ventricular Decompensation in Asymptomatic Patients with Severe Aortic Stenosis, Clinical Trials.gov NCT03094143). In centres where both EASY-AS and EVoLVeD are running, participants in EASY-AS will be offered the opportunity to take part in EVoLVeD.
Funding has been granted by the British Heart Foundation (UK), Medical Research Future Fund (Aus) and Heart Foundation (NZ). The UK sponsor is the University of Leicester. Additional support and resources for the study will be provided by the participating Trusts and their corresponding Clinical Research Networks in the UK. The central co-ordination centre is the University of Leicester Clinical Trials Unit.
1,025 studies on the registry are indexed under Aortic Valve Stenosis; 293 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 2,104 is above the median of 126 across 554 interventional studies indexed under Aortic Valve Stenosis.
Browse Aortic Valve Stenosis studies →University of Leicester is the lead sponsor of 170 studies on the registry; 51 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
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.
Patient has severe asymptomatic AS, in line with current international guidelines, defined as either:
Exclusion Criteria:
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.
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.
The share of blood the heart’s main pumping chamber (the left ventricle) pushes out with each beat, measured by an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) or a MUGA scan. About 50–70% is normal.
The study doctor’s estimate of how long someone is likely to live. Criteria use it so that people can stay in the study long enough for it to answer its question.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
LVEF (left ventricular ejection fraction)
The share of blood the heart’s main pumping chamber (the left ventricle) pushes out with each beat, measured by an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) or a MUGA scan. About 50–70% is normal.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Life expectancy
The study doctor’s estimate of how long someone is likely to live. Criteria use it so that people can stay in the study long enough for it to answer its question.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Participants randomised to AVR will be investigated and managed according to local protocols and standard practice. Participants will be placed on the waiting list with the aim that surgery will be performed within 6 months, dependent on local hospitals' waiting lists.
Procedure: Aortic valve replacement
Participants randomised to expectant management will continue to have regular monitoring of their condition in line with the procedures and standard practices of their hospital.
Participants will be assessed by a member of the surgical team performing aortic valve replacement (AVR), and by any other relevant medical professionals identified by the doctors overseeing their care in hospital. When deemed ready for AVR, a member of the surgical team will ask for consent to proceed with the AVR. They will discuss the surgical procedure, covering information on the basic technical procedure, risks and expected recovery time.
Combined measure of cardiovascular death, hospitalisation for heart failure and Stroke.
Measured in days from randomisation until end of trial (minimum 3 years). The primary analysis will be undertaken when the last recruited participant has had 3 years follow-up or 601 events have accrued at an annual extraction (whichever is first), which is estimated to be after a median of 5.5 years follow-up assuming 2104 patients are recruited by September 2027.
Time frame: Through study completion, median 5.5 years
WHO Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS 2.0)
Assessing disability-free survival during the period of active recruitment. Scores assigned to each of the items - "none" (0), "mild" (1) "moderate" (2), "severe" (3) and "extreme" (4) - are summed. The simple sum of the scores of the items across all domains constitutes a statistic that is sufficient to describe the degree of functional limitations. Step 1 - Summing of recoded item scores within each domain. Step 2 - Summing of all six domain scores. Step 3 - Converting the summary score into a metric ranging from 0 to 100 (where 0 = no disability; 100 = full disability).
Time frame: 6, 12, 24 and 36 months
NHS record linkage services
Assessing number of days alive and out of hospital. All participants will be consented for long-term follow-up (10 years) and clinical events will be ascertained through NHS Digital or equivalent.
Time frame: Up to 5 years
Death (cardiovascular, including sudden cardiac death, and non-cardiovascular), hospitalisation for heart failure, myocardial infarction, stroke
Assessing number of major adverse events. All participants will be consented for long-term follow-up (10 years) and clinical events will be ascertained through NHS Digital or equivalent.
Time frame: Up to 5 years
Number of additional outcomes of special interest: infective endocarditis and major bleeding, resuscitated cardiac arrest, hospitalisation with new onset atrial fibrillation, syncope, revascularization (CABG/PCI), cardiac device implantation
Assessing additional outcomes of special interest. All participants will be consented for long-term follow-up (10 years) and clinical events will be ascertained through NHS Digital or equivalent.
Time frame: Up to 5 years
EuroQol five-level (EQ-5D-5L) questionnaire
Assessing quality of life during the period of active recruitment. EQ-5D-5L has 2 components: health state description and evaluation. In the description part, health status is measured in terms of 5 dimensions (5D); mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression. Mobility dimension asks about the person's walking ability. Self-care dimension asks about the ability to wash or dress by oneself, and usual activities dimension measures performance in "work, study, housework, family or leisure activities". In pain/discomfort dimension, it asks how much pain or discomfort they have, and in anxiety/depression dimension, it asks how anxious or depressed they are. The respondents self-rate their level of severity for each dimension using a 5-level scale.
Time frame: 6, 12, 24 and 36 months
Health Economics Questionnaire
Assessed using self-reported health care resource use and cost effectiveness. Participants will be asked if they have used any of the following services at a hospital for reasons that may be related to their heart condition or treatment: hospital services, services in the community and specialist equipment. The data from this questionnaire will be scored by a Health Economist at the end of the study.
Time frame: 6, 12, 24 and 36 months
Edmonton Frail Scale (EFS) (Bedside and Acute Care Version)
Assessing frailty at baseline using a simple tool to assess frailty in older patients. It consists of nine domains and eleven items, each scoring 0 points (frailty absent or normal health), 1 point (minor errors or mild/moderate impairment), or 2 points (important errors or severely impaired).
Time frame: Baseline
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