Drug-Eluting Stent for the Treatment of Early Fistula Failure

Introduction: Morbidity and mortality in chronic haemodialysis patients is related to dialysis efficiency. Several complications may occur with vascular access, usually associated with a stenosis. This is known to occur frequently in the venous outflow. Stenosis of the arterial side is not as frequently discussed, but it is also likely to compromise fistula function. Traditionally, surgical and percutaneous interventions have been used to treat failing fistulas, but the employment of drug-eluting stents for the treatment of failing fistulas due to the arterial stenosis has been described rarely. Methods: A 65-year-old male patient referred to our ambulatory because of hand ischemia during haemodialysis treatments only few days after radial-cephalic fistula creation. After physical and echo-color-doppler examination, angiography was performed and percutaneous intervention was proposed. After the positioning of a guiding catheter, the lesion was crossed with a 0.014” guide wire followed by direct drug-eluting stent implantation. Results: Final angiogram showed a good result and a preserved flow through the fistula. Six months later the patient was asymptomatic and the fistula was still working. Conclusion: Although further prospective studies are necessary, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) with drug-eluting stents implantation could be considered a safe and effective technique for the treatment of arteriovenous fistulas stenosis.