Vascular access intervention by a nephrologist in Hiroshima

Interventional nephrology: current status and clinical impact in Japan

Background

Current status and clinical significance of interventional nephrology has not been reported from Japan.

Methods

Questionnaires were mailed twice to the directors of all 534 Japanese certificated nephrology training institutions in 2014. The main questions were current performance, categorized annual procedure volume and managers of peritoneal dialysis (PD) access, vascular access (VA) surgery, endovascular intervention, and kidney biopsy. Frequencies of nephrologist involvement between high volume center and low volume center and association between the level of nephrologists’ involvement to each procedure and annual procedure volume were examined.

Results

332 (62.2%) institutions answered performance of all procedures and 328 (61.4%) institutions answered all procedure volume. Kidney biopsy, VA surgery, endovascular intervention and PD access surgery were performed by any doctors in 94.2, 96.3, 88.4, and 76.2% and each involvement of nephrologist was 93.9, 54.1, 53.1 and 47.6%, respectively. Cochran–Armitage analyses demonstrated significant increases in all 4 procedure volume with greater management by nephrologists (p < 0.01). Nephrologists involvement to VA surgery associated with procedure volume increase in not only VA surgery, but also PD catheter insertion (p < 0.01) and kidney biopsy (p < 0.05). And nephrologists involvement to PD catheter insertion also associated with surgical volume increase in both VA surgery (p < 0.01) and endovascular intervention (p < 0.05).

Conclusions

Main manager of all 4 procedures was nephrologist in Japan. Each procedure volume increased as nephrologists become more involved. Acquisition of one specific procedure by nephrologist associated with increase not only in this specific procedure volume, but also the other procedure volume.

Trans-collateral angioplasty in vascular access intervention therapy for subacute occluded vessel

We describe the first reported case of successful trans-collateral angioplasty (TCA) in vascular access intervention therapy (VAIVT) for a subacute occluded lesion in the vascular access route. TCA is a technique which has been developed in the field of endovascular therapy for peripheral arterial disease and is usually applied for a long chronic total occluded lesion with no available distal puncture site. Because such lesion characteristics suitable for being applied with TCA are not usually seen in the patients who receive VAIVT, there is little opportunity when TCA is performed in VAIVT. The present patient showed subacute occlusion in the vascular access route with well-developed collateral blood vessels. Because antegrade wiring resulted in subintimal tracking, we failed to antegradely introduce the guidewire to the vascular true lumen. Moreover, no puncture site in the venous side was anatomically available. Therefore, we adopted the strategy of TCA and successfully completed the procedure. Although we rarely encounter the situation in which TCA is necessary for VAIVT, the strategy of TCA is a promising procedure if the condition permits.