Salvage of a Radiocephalic Arteriovenous Hemodialysis Fistula by Percutaneous Angioplasty to Increase Retrograde Flow from the Palmar Arch in Patients with an Occluded Radial Artery.

This brief report presents 12 patients who underwent percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) to increase the retrograde blood flow from the palmar arch. All the patients had radiocephalic arteriovenous fistulas with occluded feeding arteries. The technical success rate was 100%. Three patients (25.0%) underwent surgical repair for restenosis, 2 patients (16.6%) underwent surgical repair for other reasons, 5 patients (41.8%) underwent repeated PTAs for restenosis, and 2 patients (16.6%) had no further treatment. The target lesion primary patency rates at 6, 12, 36, and 60 months were 90.9%, 54.5%, 36.4%, and 18.2%, respectively.