Safety and effectiveness of combined scoring balloon and paclitaxel-coated balloon angioplasty for stenosis in the hemodialysis access circuit

Comparison of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and surgical revision after intraoperative dilatation with biliary tract probes for arteriovenous fistula stenosis at juxta-anastomosis

BACKGROUND

Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) is widely used for stenosis of vascular access (VA) for hemodialysis. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of both PTA and surgical revision after intraoperative dilatation with biliary tract probes for juxta-anastomotic stenosis in autogenous radiocephalic arteriovenous fistulas (RCAVFs).

METHODS

We performed a retrospective analysis of PTA and surgical revision after intraoperative dilatation with biliary tract probes; these were the first interventions after RCAVF establishment in 112 patients with juxta-anastomotic stenosis. Anatomical (number of stenoses) and clinical variables (age and gender of the patient, time of hemodialysis, AVF age, presence of diabetes mellitus, and cause of end-stage renal disease) were reviewed. Technical success, clinical success, and post-intervention primary patency were evaluated.

RESULTS

Our study enrolled 35 patients in the PTA group and 77 patients in the surgical revision group. Clinical and technical success rates of both groups were 100%. There were no complications, such as bleeding or hematomas. Using the Kaplan-Meier method, the post-intervention primary patency rates at 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 months in the PTA group were 100%, 94.28%, 77.1%, 60%, 54.29%, and 45.71%, respectively, and those in the surgical revision group were 100%, 94.81%, 92.2%, 90.91%, 81.82%, and 76.62%, respectively. The post-intervention primary patency rates at 9-24 months in the surgical revision group were significantly higher than those in the PTA group (χ2 = 19.04, p < 0.0001).

CONCLUSION

The post-intervention long-term primary patency rate of surgical revision after intraoperative dilatation with biliary tract probes is higher than that of PTA for the first intervention of patients with juxta-anastomotic stenosis in RCAVFs. The surgical revision method is safe and effective, especially in hospitals that have not yet carried out PTA.

Network meta-analysis of trials comparing first line endovascular treatments for arteriovenous fistula stenosis

OBJECTIVE

We investigated the comparative effectiveness of different endovascular treatments for patients with failing autogenous arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) with outflow vein stenosis.

METHODS

The Medline (via PubMed) and SCOPUS databases were searched. We performed a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials that had investigated the effectiveness of plain balloon angioplasty (PBA), cutting balloon angioplasty, and drug-coated balloon angioplasty (DCBA) to treat vein stenoses in autogenous AVFs. Studies of central vein stenosis were excluded. The main outcome measures were the failure rates at 6 months and 1 year after treatment.

RESULTS

Eleven randomized controlled trials were included, with 814 patients, 395 of whom had undergone PBA. The network meta-analysis showed that DCBA at 6 months was significantly more effective than PBA (odds ratio, 0.39; 95% confidence interval, 0.18-0.81) and ranked as the best treatment option, although the difference was not statistically significant compared with cutting balloon angioplasty (odds ratio, 0.65; 95% confidence interval, 0.20-2.12). The differences among the three treatments at 1 year were not statistically significant. Additional conventional pairwise meta-analyses did not find significant differences at 1 year.

CONCLUSIONS

In failing AVFs with outflow stenosis, DCBA was significantly superior to PBA, with improved 6-month failure rates. However the effectiveness of DCBA in the long term deserves further investigation.

Restoring arteriovenous access: Pilot study using a scoring balloon in 50 patients

Background:

Arteriovenous access failure is most often due to the development of neointimal hyperplastic stenoses. Balloon angioplasty remains standard of care for endovascular treatment of stenoses obstructing blood flow in hemodialysis fistulas and grafts. Scoring balloon technologies have been developed to disrupt the atheromatous plaque and have shown to be safe and effective for treating stenosis in the hemodialysis access circuit. However, improvement in patency has yet to be established.

Methods:

This prospective, single-arm study included 50 patients with stenosed hemodialysis fistula/grafts treated with the AngioSculpt® scoring balloon (Philips) and followed for 6 months. The primary endpoint was target lesion primary patency at 2 and 6 months defined as freedom from re-intervention.

Results:

Treatment with the scoring balloon resulted in a reduction in stenosis from 78% ± 13.36% to 7.2% ± 7.57% (mean ± standard deviation). Scoring balloon inflation pressures averaged 11.4 atm; no slippage/dissections occurred. After 2 months, 10% of patients required re-intervention. At 6 months, 19% of patients required re-intervention. The 6-month freedom from re-intervention rate was higher for patients with stenosed fistulas (83.3%) compared to patients with stenosed grafts (71.4%). Six-month patency rates were highest for patients with no or one previous intervention (91.6% and 90.0%, respectively); patients with two to five preceding interventions had a 6-month patency rate of 80%, and those with more than five previous interventions had a 50% 6-month patency rate.

Conclusion:

Results from this pilot study suggest that the AngioSculpt scoring balloon may be a viable treatment option for stenosed arteriovenous fistula/graft access.

A retrospective comparison analysis of results of drug-coated balloon versus plain balloon angioplasty in treatment of juxta-anastomotic de novo stenosis of radiocephalic arteriovenous fistulas

BACKGROUND

Juxta-anastomotic stenosis is a common issue of arteriovenous fistulas. We aimed to evaluate the results of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty with drug-coated balloon versus plain balloon for the treatment of juxta-anastomotic stenoses of mature but failing distal radiocephalic arteriovenous fistulas.

METHODS

A total of 80 patients with a juxta-anastomotic stenosis of distal radiocephalic arteriovenous fistula in our clinic between January 2016 and September 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into two groups according to the type of treatment as drug-coated balloon - percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (n = 44) and plain balloon - percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (n = 43). Intra- and post-procedural data were recorded. Target lesion primary patency rate was evaluated at 6 and 12 months. Of all patients, 48 were females and 39 were males with a mean age of 56.3 ± 10.4 (range, 24-75) years. Both groups had mature fistulas, and the mean age of fistula was 11.3 ± 9.1 months in the drug-coated balloon - percutaneous transluminal angioplasty group and 10.3 ± 8.8 months in the plain balloon - percutaneous transluminal angioplasty group (p = 0.24).

RESULTS

There was no significant difference in the target lesion stenosis rate and the median lesion length between the groups. Technical and clinical success were achieved in both groups. Target lesion primary patency was similar at 6 months between the two groups (93.1% vs 81.3%, respectively; p = 0.14) but significantly higher for the drug-coated balloon - percutaneous transluminal angioplasty group at 12 months (81.8% vs 51.1%, respectively; p = 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Our study results suggest that the use of drug-coated balloon combined with percutaneous transluminal angioplasty is an effective treatment for juxta-anastomotic stenoses of mature but failing distal radiocephalic arteriovenous fistulas with significantly improved target lesion primary patency rates and reduced need for juxta-anastomotic reinterventions.

Hybrid venous recanalization and cardiac implantable electronic device lead revision procedures: A single-center retrospective analysis of 38 patients

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to describe the safety and efficacy of hybrid recanalization procedures in a series of patients with obstructed central veins requiring cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) revision.

METHODS

Between 2008 and 2016, 38 consecutive patients (24 M; age 60.5 ± 16.2 years; range 25-87 years) with central venous obstruction underwent 42 recanalization interventions performed in conjunction with CIED revision or extraction. Fifty percent of patients (19/38) presented with veno-occlusive symptoms, and 13% (5/38) of patients had CIED leads with an ipsilateral upper extremity dialysis conduit.

RESULTS

Ninety-one percent (38/42) of all procedures resulted in successful recanalization and CIED revision. Twenty-four percent (9/38) of all patients required secondary procedures due to recurrent stenosis, and 78% (7/9) of those requiring secondary procedures had indwelling dialysis conduits and/or clinical symptoms related to venous occlusion before the initial procedure. There were complications in 2 patients related to recanalization, and in 3 related to CIED revision.

CONCLUSIONS

Recanalization of central venous stenosis/occlusion in patients with CIED can be technically challenging but is successful in most patients. Symptomatic patients and those with dialysis conduits often require more aggressive revascularization interventions and may be at increased risk of complication or need for secondary interventions.