Anticardiolipin antibody and Taiwanese chronic haemodialysis patients with recurrent vascular access thrombosis

Vascular access failure is a major cause of morbidity in chronic haemodialysis (HD) patients. However, some factors (such as homocysteine levels) are known regarding the risk factors predisposing certain HD patients to vascular access thrombosis (VAT). Immunoglobulin‐G anticardiolipin antibody (IgG‐ACA) is strongly associated with venous and arterial thrombosis in patients with normal renal function. Previous investigations have reported the characteristics of patients with raised IgG‐ACA titre and recurrent VAT of HD in Western countries, but few equivalent studies exist for Taiwan. This retrospective study attempts to determine whether raised IgG‐ACA titres are associated with an increased risk of recurrent VAT in chronic HD patients. This study enrolled 483 patients undergoing HD. IgG‐ACA titre and hepatitis B&C marker were measured for all patients. A history of recurrent (VAT more than one) and/or VAT was elicited by using information from the patient questionnaires and was verified by means of careful inpatient and outpatient chart review. Raised IgG‐ACA titres were present in 21.7% (105/483) of patients. In both groups (raised IgG‐ACA and normal IgG‐ACA), the type of shunt differed significantly (p = 0.029). In predicting for more or one episodes of VAT by using multiple logistic regression with all significant factors, synthetic graft was also a significant factor (p < 0.0001). The 105 raised IgG‐ACA titres and 378 normal IgG‐ACA titres were associated between chronic HD patients and recurrent VAT (p = 0.034). In predicting for more or one episode of VAT by using multiple logistic regression with all significant factors, raised IgG‐ACA titre was a non‐significant factor (p = 0.336). The presence of hepatitis C had a higher percentage in group with raised IgG‐ACA titres of HD patients (p = 0.042). In predicting for more or one episode of VAT by using multiple logistic regression with all significant factors, the presence of hepatitis C was also a significant factor (p = 0.022). In conclusion, the prevalence of raised IgG‐ACA titres was 21.7% among HD patients. There was a weak association between raised IgG‐ACA titre and recurrent VAT and this finding may be the consequence of pathogenetic role of raised IgG‐ACA titres in the development of VAT status for chronic HD patients. The presence of hepatitis C was a cofactor.