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Knee OsteoarthritisGRAVITYNCT04682652

Genicular Artery Embolization Vs Observation for Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis

A study testing Embozene MicroSpheres in people with Knee Osteoarthritis and Degenerative Joint Disease of Knee, run by University of California, Los Angeles at 1 site in United States.

Active, not recruiting

Under way, not looking for participants. Everyone needed has enrolled. The study is still running.

Official record
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Trial summary

The purpose of this clinical trial is to determine whether genicular artery embolization (GAE) is an effective way to treat knee pain from osteoarthritis. Pain from arthritis is often due to underlying inflammation in the joint. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 40 to 79 years
What is being tested?
Embozene MicroSpheres
Type of treatment
Medical device
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
100 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
1 Aug 2023to 1 Oct 2027
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
Not yet: the study is under way

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 40 to 79 years
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Subjects must meet all of the following inclusion criteria in order to be eligible for this study:
  • Provided informed consent
  • Age ≥ 40 years and less than 80 years
  • Ineligibility for or refusal of surgical management
  • Moderate-severe knee pain as determined by visual analog scale > 5 out of 10
  • Osteoarthritis based on X-ray. Kellgren-Lawrence score > 2 based on radiograph completed within 3 months of procedure date.
  • Resistant/failed conservative treatment (e.g. NSAIDS/physical therapy/steroid joint injection/ hyaluronic acid joint injection) for at least 3 months
  • Able to comply with all treatments and protocol follow-up visits

Who cannot join

  • Subjects that meet any of the following exclusion criteria will not be eligible for this study:
  • Mild knee pain as determined by visual analog scale < 5 out of 10
  • OA on knee radiograph resulting in greater than 20 degree varus or valgus angulation
  • Moderate loss of kidney function, define as estimated glomerular filtration rate of less than 45 mL/min.
  • Significant arterial atherosclerosis that would limit selective angiography
  • History of fibromyalgia, autoimmune, or inflammatory disorder
Show all 14Show fewer
  • History of any lumbar spine surgery, spine injections, or radicular pain in the extremity believed to originate from the spine
  • Allergy to iodinated contrast agents
  • Active Infection or malignancy
  • Recent (within 12 months) or active nicotine use
  • Prior total or partial knee replacement in the subject knee
  • Active pregnancy
  • Uncorrectable bleeding diasthesis
  • Other medical, social, or psychological/physical conditions that, in the opinion of the investigator, preclude the patient from participating in the study.

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United States1 site
  • UCLA Santa Monica Hospital

    Santa Monica, California, 90404

Other trials in United States

About this study

Official title: GRAVITY: Genicular Artery Embolization Versus Observation for the Treatment of Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis: a Randomized Controlled Trial

The purpose of this clinical trial is to determine whether genicular artery embolization (GAE) is an effective way to treat knee pain from osteoarthritis. Pain from arthritis is often due to underlying inflammation in the joint. The inflammation is associated with increased abnormal blood flow going to the specific area of pain. If the investigator can reduce the blood flow, the inflammation can be reduced and the pain can be controlled.

The GAE procedure is an experimental procedure to decrease the blood flow (embolize) to the specific region of the knee that is causing the pain. This will be done by infusing microscopic spheres into the specific blood vessel (genicular artery) supplying the area of pain in the knee. This is done through a procedure which is called an angiogram, which is done entirely through a pinhole at the creased of the thigh, using twilight (conscious) sedation.

The investigators have already completed an initial trial at UCLA, and shown that this procedure is safe and effective. The purpose of this new trial is to compare outcomes of people undergoing the GAE procedure to those who do not undergo the procedure. A total of 120 patients will be enrolled, and 2/3 of the patients will be randomly selected to undergo the GAE procedure. 1/3 will not undergo the procedure. This is known as a randomized trial. During the trial, all subjects will also get MRIs and fluid withdrawn from their knee joints at various timepoints in order to precisely figure out how the procedure works on a closer (microscopic) level.

Read the detailed description

This is a single-center, prospective, open-label randomized trial to compare outcomes of GAE versus observation, and to identify biomarkers and imaging endpoints that change in response to GAE.

Subjects will be considered enrolled in the study once they have provided informed consent and have been determined to meet all eligibility criteria. A total of 100 subjects will be enrolled in the double-arm study and will be followed for 24 months.

The study will involve a screening period in which patient eligibility is determined. Once eligibility is confirmed, subjects will then be randomized to GAE or observation in a 2:1 ratio. Group sample sizes of 80 and 40 achieve approximately 85% power to reject the null hypothesis of no difference in the clinical response defined by 50% or greater reduction in WOMAC between the treatment and observation arms with a significance level (alpha) of 0.050 using a two-sided two-proportions using Fisher's exact test. With 120 symptomatic knee osteoarthritis subjects, the power of study is approximately 85% where we assume a target response rate of 67.5% for the experimental arm and 31% for the observational arm with up to 20% drop-out rate prior to 6 months. All study subjects will undergo the initial procedures, consisting of a history and physical exam, dynamic contrast-enhanced knee MRI, blood serum and joint aspiration with biochemical analysis.

For the treatment arm, subjects will undergo GAE with Embozene microspheres (100 micron) (Varian Medical Systems). Observation group will not receive the GAE procedure at baseline, and will be counseled on conservative management with a referral or prescription for physical therapy. Follow-up visits will be at 1 month (± 2 weeks), 3 months (± 2 weeks), 6 months (± 2 weeks), 12 months (± 2 weeks), and 24 months (± 2 weeks) post-procedure. At these visits, subjects will complete the WOMAC, KOOS5, visual analog scale (VAS) pain score, undergo a directed physical examination, and report any new adverse events (AEs). At 6 and 24 months of follow-up, all subjects will also undergo dynamic contrast-enhanced knee MRI, and serum and joint aspiration with biochemical analysis.

At 6 months, subjects in the observation group will have the option to crossover to the GAE treatment arm. Subjects in the crossover group will then undergo GAE, with follow up at 1 month (± 2 weeks), 3 months (± 2 weeks), 6 months (± 2 weeks), 12 months (± 2 weeks), and 24 months (± 2 weeks) post-GAE. For the purposes of data analyses, the follow-up evaluations for crossover subjects will match those of the initial GAE subjects. For example, if a subject in the observation arm undergoes GAE crossover at 6 months, that will be considered the treatment visit, and then subject will undergo evaluation at 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months after GAE.

Being tested
Embozene MicroSpheres
Keywords
Microspheres, Artery Embolization, Knee Osteoarthritis, Chronic Pain, Embozene
Medical subject headings
Osteoarthritis, Knee, Chronic Pain

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Embozene MicroSpheresDevice

    Also called Color-Advanced Microspheres, Microspheres for Embolization

    Embozene is a medical device made by Boston Scientific approved in the United States for the treatment of hypervascular tumors and arteriovenous malformations. It consists of thousands of microscopic spheres that are injected into the artery in the knee going to the region of pain. One of the causes of pain in the setting of knee arthritis is increased blood flow going to the specific area of pain. The goal of this procedure is to decrease the blood flow (embolize) to the specific region of the knee that is causing your pain. This is done by infusing Embozene particles into the specific blood vessel (genicular artery) supplying the area of pain in the knee.

Study groups in NCT04682652
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
GAE TreatmentExperimentalSubjects will be treated with a genicular artery embolization (GAE) procedure performed with Embozene Microspheres. The microspheres will be delivered in a saline-contrast medium solution and will be delivered to the arteries supplying the areas of the subject's pain.
Receives: Device: Embozene MicroSpheres
ObservationalNo interventionSubjects randomized to the observational group will not undergo the experimental GAE Treatment. PI will offer subjects enrolled into the observational group to crossover to the experimental GAE Treatment group after they have completed their 6-month follow-up assessments.

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Changes in clinical response

    The primary evaluation is the change in clinical response, measured by The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC). The primary endpoint is percentage of subjects achieving at least a 50% reduction in WOMAC at 6 months with an intent-to-treat analysis.

    Measured: 6 months

Secondary outcomes (7)
  1. Short term clinical outcomes

    • Compare clinical success rates (defined as at least 50% reduction in WOMAC) between GAE and observation at 1 and 3 months. This will be a intent-to-treat analysis.

    Measured: 1-3 months

  2. Clinic outcomes at multiple timepoints

    • Compare clinical success rates (defined as at least 50% reduction in WOMAC) between GAE and observation at various timepoints: 1 months, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 24 months. This will be a per-protocol analysis.

    Measured: 1-24 months

  3. Degree of change in clinical outcomes via WOMAC

    • Compare mean decrease in WOMAC (measured by percentage) between GAE and observation at various timepoints: 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 24 months. This will be a per-protocol analysis.

    Measured: 1-24 months

  4. Decrease in pain

    • Compare mean decrease in pain (measured by VAS: visual analog scale) between GAE and observation at various timepoints: 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 24 months. This will be a per-protocol analysis.

    Measured: 1-24 months

  5. Change in quality of life

    • Compare mean improvement in health-related quality of life (measured by KOOS5) between GAE and observation at various timepoints: 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 24 months. This will be a per-protocol analysis.

    Measured: 1-24 months

  6. Compare clinical success rates

    • Compare clinical success rates based on varying reductions in WOMAC (16% - minimally clinically important difference, 75%, and 90%) between GAE and observation at all timepoints: 1 months, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 24 months. This will be a per-protocol analysis.

    Measured: 1-24 months

  7. Incidence of treatment related adverse events

    • To assess safety via tabulation of adverse events.

    Measured: 0-24 months

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted24 Dec 2020
  2. Study start1 Aug 2023
  3. Primary completion1 Oct 2026 (estimated)
  4. Study completion1 Oct 2027 (estimated)

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Crossover
Model description
A total of 120 subjects will be enrolled in the double-arm study, subjects will be randomized to GAE or observation in a 2:1 ratio (80 assigned to GAE, 40 assigned to observational). Subjects in the observation group will have the option to crossover to the GAE treatment arm after they've completed their 6-month follow-up time point. Subjects who crossover to treatment arm will undergo the GAE procedure and undergo all subsequent follow-up visits (1 month, 3 month, 6 month, 12 month, 24 month).
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
100 participants (estimated)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT04682652
Sponsor's protocol ID
22-001004
Acronym
GRAVITY
Status last verified
Apr 2026
First submitted
14 Dec 2020
Last updated
29 Apr 2026
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
Yes
Individual data sharing
Yes: The IPD generated during this study will not be shared outside of the study team. Only de-identified IPD results will be made available in publications or presentations. This approach ensures participant confidentiality and aligns with the study design.

Publications

  • Padia SA, Genshaft S, Blumstein G, Plotnik A, Kim GHJ, Gilbert SJ, Lauko K, Stavrakis AI. Genicular Artery Embolization for the Treatment of Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis. JB JS Open Access. 2021 Oct 21;6(4):e21.00085. doi: 10.2106/JBJS.OA.21.00085. eCollection 2021 Oct-Dec.

    PubMed 34703964

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Embozene MicroSpheres in people with Knee Osteoarthritis and Degenerative Joint Disease of Knee, run by University of California, Los Angeles at 1 site in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 8 inclusion and 14 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: under way, not looking for participants, as of the sponsor's last update on 29 Apr 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Changes in clinical response (time frame: 6 months). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT04682652, which also lists 1 linked publication.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 29 Apr 2026.

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