Vascular Access News

A 24-hour exposure to bright blue light before surgery reduces inflammation and organ damage at the cellular level in a mouse model, according to new research from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Editor’s note: Since this article was published, the authors have clarified DaVita Kidney Care’s central venous catheter rate, based on Fistula First Breakthrough Initiative data.  The article originally stated that the provider’s overall CVC rate is 6.5%. That percentage represents catheters in place among DaVita patients for < 90 days.  For catheters in place greater than or equal to 90 days, the rate is 9.3%, and for those with other forms of access in addition to catheters the rate is 0.7%. Thus, the overall catheter rate for DaVita Kidney Care’s patient population is 16.5%.

In a paper published in NN&I last month by Provenzano et al., the authors said they struggled to reach a target sample size for their study, particularly in finding a control group of patients with catheters. "Several clinic policy changes...targeted reduction of catheter access which in turn reduced the number of eligible patients. The Fistula First initiative was implemented prior to study initiation...Directly following this, a dialysis provider initiative targeting central catheter rates was also introduced; this policy required central catheter target rates of less than or equal to 13% in each dialysis facility.."

A DaVita HealthCare Partners subsidiary is under federal investigation for possible violation of the False Claims Act. RMS Lifeline Inc., which does business under the name Lifeline Vascular Access, has received a civil investigative demand from the Justice Department relating to two vascular access centers it operates in Florida. The department is conducting a False Claims Act investigation and is reviewing the medical necessity of angiograms performed on 10 patients, covering a period from Jan. 1, 2008 through the present, according to DaVita's Nov. 18 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

New research at the Sahlgrenska Academy in Sweden shows that coating implants with a certain "activator" can prevent Staphylococcus aureus, the leading cause of hospital-acquired infections, from forming biofilms. Biofilms frequently coat the surfaces of catheters, and of various medical implants and prostheses, where they can cause life-threatening infections.

Mortality rates among dialysis patients dropped significantly from 2007 to 2012, with corresponding drops in hospital admission rates, according to analyses presented at the American Society of Nephrology’s Kidney Week.

Ohio-based dialysis provider Centers for Dialysis Care (CDC) has entered into a contract to use the Vasc-Alert pressure surveillance service in all 16 of its dialysis centers.

Good vascular access continues to be a cornerstone of optimal hemodialysis (HD) for patients with end-stage renal disease. Central venous catheters (CVC) are most frequently used to establish the initial vascular access in ESRD patients requiring HD. Data from the most recent United States Renal Data System (USRDS) report indicates that the use of CVCs continues to be as high as 80% in new ESRD patients requiring HD.8

Proteon Therapeutics Inc. has started its second phase 3 study of vonapanitase in patients with chronic kidney disease undergoing surgical creation of a radiocephalic arteriovenous fistula (AVF) for hemodialysis. Vonapanitase is an investigational drug designed to improve arteriovenous fistula patency, and reduce the failure of the hemodialysis vascular access.

Editor's note: This article was originally published May 29 on Home Dialysis Central's KidneyViews blog.