Primary vascular access for hemodialysis treatment : a comparative study of autogenous radial-cephalic and prosthetic graft arteriovenous fistulas

A well functioning vascular access is necessary for successful hemodialysis treatment (a therapy that replaces the kidney function). Vascular access can be created with an arteriovenous fistula (AVF), a connection between a coronary artery and a vein. The risk of treatment failure increases, however, if the patient has small or bad vessels. In that case an arteriovenous graft (AVG), an artificial blood vessel that is subcutaneously attached between a coronary artery and a vein, can be a solution. Research in this dissertation shows that, looking at the life span, patients with bad vessels indeed benefit from placing an artificial AVG as vascular access for dialysis.