Background: Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty is the preferred treatment of stenosed failing arteriovenous fistulas (AVF) but is hampered by increasing rates of vascular restenosis because of development of myointimal hyperplasia.
Methods: This multicenter observational study of polymer-coated low-dose paclitaxel-eluting stents (ELUvia stents by Boston Scientific) in stenosed AVF undergoing hemoDIAlysis (ELUDIA) was jointly conducted in three tertiary hospitals from Greece and Singapore. Failure of AVF was defined according to K-DOQI criteria and significant fistula stenosis (>50%DS by visual estimate) was determined with subtraction angiography. Patients were considered for ELUVIA stent insertion based on significant elastic recoil following balloon angioplasty for the treatment of a single vascular stenosis within a native AVF. The primary outcome measure was sustained long-term patency of the treated lesion/fistula circuit defined as successful stent placement with resumption of uninterrupted hemodialysis and without significant vascular restenosis (50%DS threshold) or other secondary interventions during follow-up.
Results: Some 23 patients received the ELUVIA paclitaxel-eluting stent (eight radiocephalic, 12 brachiocephalic, and three transposed brachiobasilic native AVFs). Mean AVF age at the time of failure was 33.9 ± 20.4 months. Treated lesions included 12 stenoses at the juxta-anastomotic segment, nine at the outflow veins, and two cephalic arch lesions with a mean diameter stenosis of 86 ± 8%. Median stent diameter and length used were 7 mm and 40 mm, respectively. After a median follow-up period of 20 months, some 18 stents out of 23 cases remained patent (cumulative rate 78.3%) without any clinical or imaging evidence of recurrent stenosis. Estimated primary patency of the ELUVIA stents was 80.6% and of the corresponding fistula circuit 65.1% at 2 years by Kaplan-Meier methods.
Conclusions: This observational study has shown promising long-term results of polymer-coated paclitaxel-eluting stents for the treatment of failing arteriovenous fistulas. Large-scale controlled studies are necessary.
Keywords: AV fistula; angioplasty; dialysis access; hyperplasia; new devices; paclitaxel-eluting; restenosis; stent.