ASPIRE-SSI Study Update May 2017

Almost six months have passed since the first patient was enrolled in the ASPIRE-SSI study. As of 23 May 2017, 18 out of 25 investigational sites have been selected in the Netherlands, Estonia, France, Italy, Romania, Serbia, Spain and United Kingdom.

The ASPIRE-SSI site team is currently working diligently to complete site selection and to start-up selected sites. At the moment, two sites are actively recruiting subjects for the study: the Utrecht Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU; Principal Investigator: Dr. M. Ekkelenkamp) and the Amphia Hospital in Breda (Principal Investigator Dr. L. van der Laan). Both sites are located in the Netherlands. The UMCU has screened a total of 44 patients of which 24 could be enrolled in the study cohort. The Amphia Hospital has just started enrolling patients and the first patient enrolled by this site is expected soon.

In addition, two sites in Serbia have been initiated and will soon start enrolling study cohort subjects. As regulatory approvals have already been obtained for Spain and France, and regulatory approval is expected for United Kingdom soon, the ASPIRE-SSI team is eagerly planning site initiation visits in these countries. These will likely take place in the coming months (June/July). The remaining selected sites will be initiated as soon as the regulatory approvals have been obtained and the site agreements have been signed.
The goal is to initiate all sites by the end of this year.

ASPIRE-SSI – Advanced understanding of StaPhylococcus aureus Infections in EuRopE – Surgical Site Infections – is a prospective, observational, multicenter cohort study performed with adult surgical patients as subjects. The study aims to engender advanced understanding of Staphylococcus aureus infections in Europe (ASPIRE) incurred in surgical site infections (SSIs). The primary objective of ASPIRE-SSI is to determine the incidence of S. aureus SSIs in various adult surgical patient populations. Another aim is to identify the patient-related, pathogen-related, and contextual risk factors. Immunologic features protective against S. aureus SSI will also be assessed.