Percutaneous Thrombectomy of AVF: Immediate Success and Long-term Patency Rates

The purpose of this study was to report the results obtained in a cohort of 520 cases of thrombosed arteriovenous fistulas (AVF) treated by percutaneous intervention over a period of 8 years. The methods used varied according to the individual characteristics of the case. A clinical success rate of 91.1% was obtained with no significant difference being noted among radial-cephalic, brachial-cephalic, and brachial-basilic AVFs. The mean primary patency for this group was 227.3 ± 14.6 days, and the mean assisted primary patency was 677.2 ± 44.6 days. The lower arm AVFs had both a primary patency and an assisted primary patency that were significantly better than the upper arm cases (p = 0.006 and 0.002, respectively). The primary patency for radial-cephalic AVFs was significantly better than that for brachial-cephalic AVFs (p = 0.021), but not for brachial-basilic cases (p = 0.122). Assisted primary patency for radial-cephalic cases was significantly superior to the values for either patients with a brachial cephalic (p = 0.046) or a brachial-basilic (p = 0.004). Complications occurred in seven cases (1.3%), all of which were venous ruptures. Blood flow was affected in four cases. Only one of these was salvaged with angioplasty balloon tamponade. In the remaining three cases, the AVF was lost.