Vascular Access News

Carlos is a 48-year-old man who started in-center hemodialysis on June 4 2014 to treat his kidney disease. At the initiation of dialysis, he was facing a multitude of challenges, including confusion and memory loss due to a recurrent cerebrovascular accident (CVA), physical and cognitive rehabilitation needs, uncontrolled diabetes with suboptimal management, fluid overload, and severe malnutrition. Despite his excellent support system at home, his family felt they had little understanding and knowledge of kidney disease and his deteriorating health status. Moreover, his insurance limited access to services available in the community for his overall recovery.

A report published online June 24 in JAMA Surgery, maps out the geographic gaps in end-stage renal disease care and quantifies the difference in death risk stemming from such regional disparities.

On many levels, the United States offers the best health care in the world – except when it comes to access placement for dialysis patients.

Vital Access Corp. has closed a $10 million credit facility with Deerfield Management, a health care investment firm. Proceeds from the financing will be used to fund Vital Access' global expansion of its VWING Vascular Needle Guide and for further investment in the company's proprietary vascular access platform.

After receiving several complaints form home hemodialysis patients about difficulty using the Nipro BioHole Needle with CAPICK Scab Remover, Home Dialyzors United sent a letter to the FDA, asking the agency to revoke its approval of the needle. The needle has been on the market since its approval in March 2010.

When faced with going on dialysis in the spring of 2006, I was given two options: in-center hemodialysis three times weekly for long periods of time, or daily PD (peritoneal dialysis) which I could do at home, several times a day. And no needles. I hated needles. In the beginning, PD was the easy choice for me.

The Vascular Access Society of Americas is planning its fifth biennial practicum at Duke University in Durham North Carolina from May 15-16. Since the first vascular access practicum in 2007, this program has emerged as premier, one-of-a kind activity that offers “hands on” experience for nephrology physicians, surgeons, and dialysis access interventionalists. Due to its success, the program expanded its activities in 2011 to provide training for dialysis nurses and technicians.

In a special webinar being presented today, researchers from the Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (DOPPS) will examine data from its Practice Monitor (DPM) on the state of access placement in the United States.

Black and Hispanic patients will start hemodialysis with an arteriovenous fistula less frequently than white patients, according to a report published online by JAMA Surgery.

ORLANDO – Placing an access in a dialysis patient is the beginning of a long road. How do you maintain strong blood flow? How do you prevent thrombosis? What do you need to do to make sure it is “built to last”?