This week, leading experts from around the world came together for a joint meeting of the GenTAC Alliance — powered by the Marfan Foundation — and the International Registry of Acute Aortic Dissection (IRAD). The goal: sharing information that will advance science in ways that will ultimately be meaningful in improving patient outcomes.
“Tromso Aorta was an amazing 2 and ½ days of science and connection between cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons, basic scientists, engineers, geneticists, and educators rallying together to push back the barriers in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of genetic aortic conditions,” said long-time Foundation leadership volunteer Dr. Kim Eagle, University of Michigan who serves as IRAD’s director and Chief Medical Officer for the GenTAC Alliance.
“The Marfan Foundation and it’s GenTAC Alliance, coupled with the 60 centers in the International Registry of Aortic Dissection, are working together to speed discovery in the treatment of Marfan Syndrome, the Loeys-Dietz family of aortic disorders, vascular EDS, and related conditions. The future is bright!” said Eagle.
120 experts registered for the event. Attendees took part in sessions that included topics such as: Clinical Trials for Stent Graft Therapy of Type B Dissection; Advances in Interventional Therapies around Stent Grafts in Type A Dissection; When to Genetic Test in Dissection; Management of Heritable Thoracic Aortic Disease in Pregnancy; Results of a First Randomized Clinical Trial Using ARB or Placebo on Top of Celiprolol in VEDS Patients; New Insights and Advances in HTAD in Genetics & Epigenetics; Rare and Common Genetic Variants Predisposing to Thoracic Aortic Disease; Emerging Biomarkers in Aortic Dissection: Not Simply Detecting but Predicting the Event; and Exercise After Dissection – Results from a Multi-Center Clinical Trial.
In the days and weeks ahead, we’ll continue to share more detailed information and continuing outcomes from the amazing collaboration that took place in Tromso.
The Marfan Foundation is a nonprofit organization that saves lives and improves the quality of life of individuals with genetic aortic and vascular conditions including Marfan, Loeys-Dietz, and Vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndromes. Our vision is a world in which everyone with genetic aortic and vascular conditions can live their best life.