Stanford Continues to Advance Ascending Aorta Treatments Through National ARISE III Clinical Trial

A series of industry-sponsored trials are evaluating a less invasive alternative for select high-risk patients, with Stanford Medicine playing an active role in this important endeavor.

Cardiothoracic surgeon A. Claire Watkins, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor with the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Stanford Medicine, and Jason T. Lee, MD, Chief of the Division of Vascular Surgery in the Department of Surgery, are embarking on the likely final phase of the ARISE clinical trials. Building upon their involvement in the ARISE II trial, which began in 2023, this work could change the future landscape of treatments for disease of the ascending aorta.

In May 2026, Stanford Health Care will offer qualifying patients the chance to participate in the national multicenter clinical trial to test an investigational ascending stent graft device. This clinical trial focuses on assessing the safety and effectiveness of the device to treat de novo Type A aortic dissections (new tears in the aorta, the main artery in the body). Each phase of the study builds on the next to expand care for patients with ascending aorta conditions.

While the ARISE II clinical trial evaluates the ascending stent graft for non-acute patients with isolated lesions and chronic Type A aortic dissections, ARISE III focuses on using the minimally invasive investigational graft as an alternative to emergency open surgery for high-risk patients with acute disease. Both studies assess safety outcomes and device placement success.

“Type A aortic dissection remains a very life-threatening event and in older, sicker patients who will not do well with open surgery, there are few options,” said Dr. Watkins, who serves as a co-principal investigator at Stanford with Dr. Lee. “Having a potentially life-saving option for high-risk aortic dissection patients that need a less invasive solution will make a difference. It will be great to have an option for those at high or prohibitory risk with open surgery."

The ascending stent graft device, available only through a clinical trial, is delivered endovascularly via a catheter. Through a small incision, surgeons place the multi-layer stent with a wire frame in the diseased section of the ascending aorta. The stent lines the aorta and provides support and strength. Because the surgery is minimally-invasive, patients can expect a shorter hospital stay and faster recovery than with an open surgery.