Fistula Salvage by Endovascular Therapy

Superficialization of arteriovenous fistulae employing minimally invasive liposuction

Influence of balloon type and lesion location on outcomes following fistuloplasty.

To investigate the effectiveness of endovascular balloon angioplasty to preserve the patency of failing hemodialysis arteriovenous fistulas (AVF) and prosthetic arteriovenous grafts (AVG). Patients on hemodialysis who received endovascular intervention for access problems were retrospectively analyzed. Fistulography was performed on patients who were suspected to have access stenosis and balloon angioplasty performed in the same setting if a stenosis of ≥50% is detected. Patients were followed up for post-operative complications and access restenosis or failure. 42 hemodialysis patients with 44 access sites (29 AVFs, 15 AVGs) required endovascular balloon angioplasty. There were no perioperative complications. Technical success rate was 100%. Median time from initial access creation to first balloon angioplasty was 13 months (2-146 months) for AVFs and 8 months (2-71 months) for AVGs. 19 of 44 patients subsequently developed restenosis. Median time for restenosis or access failure was 11 months (1-18 months) for AVFs and 5 months (1-10 months) for AVGs. Kaplan-Meier analysis for access patency after endovascular intervention showed 72% patency at 6 months and 32% at 12 months. Endovascular balloon angioplasty is effective in restoring patency of failing hemodialysis accesses. Recurrence is common, and repeat interventions are required.

Early surgical thrombectomy improves salvage of thrombosed vascular accesses

Maintenance of previously thrombosed arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) as functional vascular accesses can be highly expensive, with relevant financial implications for healthcare systems. The aim of our study was to evaluate the costs and health outcomes of vascular access care in hemodialysis patients with AVF thrombosis. A retrospective, controlled cohort study was performed among local hemodialysis patients with completely thrombosed AVFs between August 1, 2007, and July 1, 2008. Detailed clinical and demographic information was collected and a comprehensive measure of total vascular access costs was obtained. Costs are reported in 2009 U.S. dollars. A total of 63 consecutive hemodialysis patients with thrombosed AVFs were identified--a cohort of 37 patients treated with percutaneous thrombectomy and a historic cohort of 25 patients with abandoned thrombosed AVFs. The mean cost of all vascular access care at 6 months was $2479. Salvage of thrombosed AVFs led to a near two-fold reduction in access-related expenses, per patient-month at risk ($375 versus $706; P = 0.048). The costs for access-related hospitalizations ($393 versus $91; P = 0.050), management of access dysfunction ($106 versus $28; P = 0.005), and surgical interventions ($35 versus $6; P = 0.001) were also significantly lower in the percutaneous treatment group. At 6 months, most of these patients had a functional AVF as permanent vascular access (91% versus 33%, P = 0.0001). Salvage of thrombosed AVF is a highly efficient procedure; therefore, intensive efforts should be undertaken to universalize these interventions.

We have reviewed the development and current status of therapies based on exposure to non-ionizing radiation (with a photon energy less than 10 eV) aimed at suppressing the venous neointimal hyperplasia, and consequentially at avoiding stenosis in arteriovenous grafts. Due to the drawbacks associated with the medical use of ionizing radiation, prominently the radiation-induced cardiovascular disease, the availability of procedures using non-ionizing radiation is becoming a noteworthy objective for the current research. Further, the focus of the review was the use of such procedures for improving the vascular access function and assuring the clinical success of arteriovenous fistulae in hemodialysis patients. Following a brief discussion of the physical principles underlying radiotherapy, the current methods based on non-ionizing radiation, either in use or under development, were described in detail. There are currently five such techniques, including photodynamic therapy (PDT), far-infrared therapy, photochemical tissue passivation (PTP), Alucent vascular scaffolding, and adventitial photocrosslinking. The last three are contingent on the mechanical stiffening achievable by the exogenous photochemical crosslinking of tissular collagen, a process that leads to the decrease of venous compliance. As there are conflicting opinions on the role of compliance mismatch between arterial and venous conduits in a graft, this aspect was also considered in our review.

To evaluate the technical and clinical success, primary patency (PP) and complications of angioplasty performed with paclitaxel-coated balloon (PCBs) associated with cutting balloon and for the treatment of the outflow stenoses of failing hemodialysis arteriovenous shunt. From September 2014 to September 2015, 50 patients with 66 stenoses were registered. Vascular accesses were autogenous (n=20) and prosthetic (n=30). Stenosis were documented during follow-up with routine echo-color Doppler, clinical evaluation and in the remaining incidentally during fistulography. Angioplasty was performed with cutting balloon and afterward with PCB. The mean follow-up time was 8months (range 6-15months). Technical success, clinical success, primary patency and complications were registered. Technical success was 100%. Clinical success was 94.7%. Primary patency rate was 87.7%; in five patients, a significant re-stenosis (≥50%) was registered. A residual asymptomatic stenosis (<30%) was registered in four cases (7%). No major complications were registered. A short-term patency benefit may be obtained including PCB in angioplasty treatment of failing hemodialysis arteriovenous shunts.

Surgical creation of a radiocephalic fistula is the gold standard of vascular access for hemodialysis. Recently, an endovascular approach for upper arm fistula creation (endoAVF) has been developed, which may be an alternative to open surgery. We describe a case series of eight cases showing feasibility, early complications and outcome of this novel treatment option. Between July 2015 and February 2016, we created an endoAVF in eight patients. Indications for endoAVF were confirmed by a multidisciplinary vascular board upon the exclusion for Cimino fistula candidates. Patients were suitable for the procedure after a pre-therapeutic ultrasound showed adequate brachial and ulnar vessels and no ipsilateral central venous stenosis. Patient characteristics, technical success, total patient radiation dose, complication rates, time to maturation of endoAVF and clinical effectiveness at six months were assessed retrospectively. Creation of endoAVF using the everlinQ endoAVF system (TVA Medical Inc., Austin, TX, USA) was successful in all eight cases. There were one minor intraprocedural complication and no postoperative complications. Median time to endoAVF maturation was 63days (range 26-137days). One patient was lost to follow-up after the first monitoring visit. In the remaining seven patients, hemodialysis was started without problems. Patency after 6months was 100%. The endoAVF demonstrated to be feasible and safe for the creation of arteriovenous fistula suitable for hemodialysis access. Further studies with more patients and longer follow-up periods are needed to assess long-term outcomes and comparability to surgical dialysis access creation.

Due to high nonmaturation rates, arteriovenous fistulas (AVF) frequently require intervention(s) to promote maturation. Endovascular or surgical interventions are often undertaken to salvage nonmaturing AVFs. The objective of this study was to compare the impact of surgical versus endovascular interventions to promote AVF maturation on cumulative AVF survival. We evaluated 89 patients with new AVF placement from a Veterans Affairs population over a 5-year period. Of these, 46 (52%) required intervention(s) to achieve successful maturation for dialysis: 31 patients had surgical revisions and 15 patients had endovascular repairs. We compared cumulative survival between AVFs requiring no intervention, surgical revision, and endovascular intervention to promote AVF maturation. Cumulative survival was longer in AVFs receiving surgical intervention compared with angioplasty to promote AVF maturation (p = 0.05). One-year cumulative survival was 86% vs. 83% vs. 40% for no intervention vs. surgery vs. angioplasty, respectively. In AVFs that required interventions to promote maturation, AVFs with surgical intervention had longer cumulative survival compared with those AVFs with endovascular intervention. AVFs with surgical intervention to promote maturation had similar 1-year cumulative survival to those AVFs that did not require intervention to promote maturation.

This study aimed to evaluate the clinical and technical success rates achieved after performing balloon-assisted maturation (BAM) for non-matured arteriovenous fistula (AVF). For this, a systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted by searching PubMed and Scopus databases. Studies regarding AVFs not suitable for use based on clinical examination or ultrasound criteria and BAM use for correcting the underlying stenotic lesion were eligible for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Accordingly, 13 studies with 1427 patients with non-matured AVF who underwent BAM were included. The pooled random effect for the clinical success rate was 90% (95% CI, 86%-93%), and that for the technical success rate was 97% (95% CI, 94%-99%). Complications after BAM were reported in 1.7%-41% of the patients. Complications included venous ruptures, wall hematomas, and puncture site hematomas. Early-BAM group had better clinical success rates. BAM is an effective intervention for salvaging non-matured AVF. The procedure is safe and feasible, and high clinical and technical success rates can be achieved. The complications were also manageable without serious sequelae.