Artery-to-Fistula Diameter Ratio as a Predictor of Early Re-Occlusion of Immature Right Radio-Cephalic Arteriovenous Fistula after Primary PTA

Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) is widely performed for arteriovenous fistula (AVF) that fails to mature after initial formation. We observed that some immature AVFs re-occlude earlier than others. We sought to investigate the predictors for early post-intervention failure of immature fistulas after primary PTA. We retrospectively reviewed the records and angiographic images of patients who had immature fistulas and thereby received PTA between 2013 and 2019 at our center. We investigated the short-term post-intervention outcomes of the patients within 90 days post-PTA. Patients who had re-occlusion within the period were defined as the early failure group and the rest as the patent group. We investigated factors associated with early failure. There were 80 eligible patients with 22 brachio-cephalic (BC) and 58 radio-cephalic (RC) AVFs. The median age of the patients was 64 years [range, 38–87]. There were 51 (63%) males and 29 (36%) females. Among the 58 RC AVFs, 10 (17%) patients had early failure. Logistic regression analysis showed that a larger artery to fistula (A/F) diameter ratio was the sole independent predictor of early failure after primary PTA (odd ratio 2.29 [1.023–5.147], p value = 0.044). Although further studies on a larger scale are required to confirm the clinical significance, a larger A/F diameter ratio was a potential predictor of early re-occlusion in immature fistulas after primary PTA.