PAPAartis: Preventing spinal cord injury in aortic aneurysm repair.
PAPAartis is a research project jointly funded by the EU and the German Research Foundation (DFG) to carry out a clinical trial of an exciting new advance in the treatment of aortic aneurysms.
More than a decade of dedicated research led by Christian D. Etz, the Coordinating Investigator, led up to this trial. 33 partners in 11 European countries and 2 US partners make up the PAPAartis team.
The PAPAartis project is the largest publicly funded RCT in aortic aneurysm in the world and aims to collect data to solve the most devastating complication in aortic
surgery since the first repair of an aortic aneurysm more than 60 years ago.
The objective of the project is to reduce the risk of spinal cord injury associated with open and endovascular treatment techniques currently used in patients with thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms. Spinal cord injury during aneurysm repair most likely arises from an interrupted and/or reduced blood supply to the spinal cord.
Through the innovative treatment being tested by PAPAartis, the body is stimulated to create a robust alternative blood supply to the spinal cord before the aneurysm repair is carried out, probably reducing the risk of paralysis.
The clinical trial is looking for patients with a thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm requiring non-emergency aneurysm repair. Patients included in the trial will receive aneurysm treatment paired with close monitoring throughout the entire trial period and the possible advantage of the innovative treatment procedure (click here for more details).
