Abstract:

Aim: A mature and functional arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is considered the best modality for vascular access(VA) for hemodialysis (HD) treatment but the incidence of early failure is high, especially in patients start their HD with a central venous catheter. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value and association of certain patient characteristics and specific inflammatory markers with early failure of AVF in patients who started their HD therapy with a CVC and a first autogenous radiocephalic AVF (RCAVF) was created after vascular consultation. Material and Methods: A retrospective review of 168 patients with end-stage renal disease who underwent RCAVF creation by the same surgeon by using the same surgical technique and whose primary vascular access for HD treatment was obtained via CVC at the time of access consultation was performed. The patients enrolled into this study were categorized into two groups as Group 1: patients with early failure (n=46) and Group 2: patients with no failure (n=122).Demographic characteristics, medical comorbidities, preoperative doppler ultrasound mapping results, laboratory parameters, postoperative follow-up details of these patients were collected. Primary patency of all patients, early failure rate, maturation failure rate, duration of CVC was calculated. Results: Female gender was found to be a significant risk factor in early failure of RCAVF (69.5% vs 36.1%; p=0.001). The number of patients whose diameter of cephalic vein< 2 mm were significantly higher in EF group (78.3% vs 22.1 ; p=0.028). The duration of CVC access of group 1 was significantly longer than group 2 (6.8 ± 3.6 months vs 2.3 ± 1.7 months, respectively; p<0.05). Overall maturation failure rate was 12.5% and primary patency at 1 year was 72.6%. Levels of C-Reactive protein (7.2 ± 9.6 vs 3.1 ± 3.3 mg/L, respectively; p=0.001) and neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (2.91± 0.30 vs 2.17 ± 0.22, respectively; p<0.05) was significantly lower at group 2 at one year. Conclusion:In patients whose VA for HD treatment was provided by CVC, small cephalic vein diameter, female gender and systemic inflammation may play a role in early failure of RCAVF.

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