The development and potential implications of the US Fenestrated and Branched Aortic Research Consortium

The endovascular repair of thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms has evolved during the last 2 decades, making fenestrated and branched endovascular aortic repair the preferred method to repair thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms in high-risk patients. Single-center publications have given vascular specialists a significant amount of data, but patient numbers and clinical event rates remain limited. Statistical power to answer important clinical questions is often limited in the single-center studies published to date. In 2018, the principal investigators at the 10 physician-sponsored Investigational Device Exemption centers in the United States decided to coordinate and collect their data in a similar fashion. This effort would allow for the development of the largest cohort of patients in the world treated with complex endovascular devices. By combining efforts and resources, a much larger dataset was compiled to help resolve some of the unanswered questions about patients with complex aortic pathology. To date, the US Aortic Research Consortium has collected data from 2,281 patients and 9,124 target vessel treatment with complex aortic aneurysms treated with custom-manufactured fenestrated and branched endovascular aortic repair devices. These data have resulted in the publication of seven peer-reviewed articles describing various aspects and outcomes of complex endovascular aortic treatment.