The UC Davis Vascular Center clinical research program is dedicated to contributing to the science of vascular disease through clinical trials. The center's research program is comprehensive and specifically designed to find better, safer ways to treat patients with peripheral arterial disease, also known as PAD. Offering national and innovative clinical trials is one of the many ways that UC Davis helps advance medicine worldwide.

Here are current and upcoming studies focusing on new investigational drugs, devices and therapies — including gene and stem cell therapies — for PAD:

CHOICE study

CHOICE is a worldwide post-market registry that includes Abbott Vascular’s carotid artery stenting and embolic protection systems. CHOICE may include as many as 8,000 patients and will be conducted at several hundred clinical sites in the United States. The study will gather extensive clinical data to help broaden patient access to carotid stenting procedures and Medicare coverage of carotid artery stenting procedures. (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00406055.)

CLEVER study

CLEVER is a prospective, unblinded, randomized, multicenter clinical trial examining the effectiveness of two treatment options — supervised exercise and arterial stent placement in the legs — for intermittent claudication. The only study of its kind, CLEVER will be conducted at up to 35 sites in the United States and will enroll 217 patients through July 2010. It is sponsored by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health. (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT00132743.)

COMPLETE SE study

This study will evaluate the safety and efficacy of the Complete SE SFA stent system in treating plaque build up in the superficial femoral artery and/or proximal popliteal artery of the legs in patients with symptomatic peripheral artery disease. (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT00814970.)

ECLECTIC study

The purpose of the study is to compare the safety and effectiveness of the medication L-Carnitine with Cilostazol as compared with a placebo taken with Cilostazol for people with intermittent claudication. (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT00822172.)

FORTRESS study

This study will evaluate the procedural safety and filter efficiency of the FiberNet® Embolic Protection System when used in conjunction with the Boston Scientific Express SD stent system for primary stenting of ostial atherosclerotic renal lesions in patients with atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis. (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT00674505.)

iCAST study

Designed for patients with iliac artery blockage, this trial compares the iCAST device — a stent coated with Teflon metal mesh placed over a balloon catheter — to other FDA-approved iliac stent devices. The stent can be used for patients with newly developed iliac artery blockages or for those previously treated with balloon angioplasty and who now show signs of artery re-narrowing.

For more information
To find out if one of these studies is right for you, please call Christy Pifer, the Vascular Center's clinical research coordinator, at (916) 734-4156.