Patient survival following arteriovenous fistula formation.

PURPOSE: Efforts to promote arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) have been successful in increasing the prevalence of AVF use as the primary vascular access for haemodialysis (HD). Sustained preference for AVF use may not be the most appropriate vascular access choice for all patient groups. Arteriovenous grafts (AVGs) offer advantages of earlier use and lower primary failure rates compared to AVFs so may be preferable for patients where short-term vascular access is needed. This study was designed to assess comparative mortality in different age groups following AVF formation. METHODS: A prospective cohort of patients having AVF creation was recruited. Patients were subdivided into three age groups: Group A: <50 years; Group B: 50-74 years and Group C: ≥75 years. Survival curves and Cox regression analysis were performed on each of these groups. RESULTS: One hundred and thirty-four patients (n = 134) were recruited into the study. The prevalence of diabetes increased significantly with age. As expected, mortality was higher in older age groups (log rank (Mantel-Cox) 19.227; p = 0.0001). Mortality rates at 1 year were 0% in group A, 12.5% in group B and 29.1% in group C. Medium-term mortality at 4 years was 7.9% in group A, 39.1% in group B and 54.8% in group C. CONCLUSIONS: We found a significantly higher mortality rate in patients ≥75 years in comparison to those <75 years. The choice of vascular access modality should be tailored to the individual with particular reference to the patient's expected survival.

Arteriovenous fistula aneurysms in patients with Alport's.

PURPOSE: Alport's syndrome is a rare but important cause of renal failure. It is characterized by Type IV collagen mutations resulting in connective tissue disorders and renal and cochlear dysfunction. Vascular basement membrane also contains collagen IV and the effect on arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) is not reported. Anecdotally, we observed a high rate of aneurysm formation in Arteriovenous fistulas (AVF) of patients with Alport's and sought to determine whether this was the case within our population. METHODS: All patients with a diagnosis of Alport's were identified from a contemporaneously maintained database. AVFs formed in patients with Alport's were identified to define the incidence of aneurysms in this group. RESULTS: A total of 40 patients with a diagnosis of Alport's were identified. Of these, 20 patients had undergone AVF formation, the remainder opting for CAPD as renal replacement or had undergone pre-emptive transplantation. Of the 20 patients identified, 11 had an AVF and of these the rate of aneurysm formation was high (55%). CONCLUSIONS: While this finding of high rate of aneurysmal AVF in Alport's patients is a purely observational finding within our population further population study would be extremely interesting and could support enhanced surveillance or alternative dialysis modalities in Alport's syndrome patients.