Articles by Tom Treasure on the Big Aortic Root Study have appeared in Cardiology News and the European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. The Big Aortic Root Study: evaluation of personalised external aortic root support was published in Cardiology News. A call for expressions of interest in a comparative study of the options for pre-emptive aortic root surgery for people with Marfan syndrome was published in the European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery.
The proposed design of the Big Aortic Root Study will document the assessment and information given to patients who are being monitored with a view to aortic root surgery. What is envisaged is an inclusive overarching observational study and within it, the option of random allocation at (two or more) decision making nodes where clinicians and patients recognise that there is uncertainty in the decision making algorithm.