Stent Grafts Provided Superior Primary Patency for Central Venous Stenosis Treatment in Comparison with Angioplasty and Bare Metal Stent: A Retrospective Single Center Study on 70 Hemodialysis Patients

Purpose: To compare patency in dialysis patients following different endovascular treatment of symptomatic central venous stenosis.Materials and Methods: A 10-year retrospective evaluation in 70 patients (32 men) dialyzing through vascular access (33, 47%) and tunneled catheters (37, 53%) was made. Three cohorts were compared: angioplasty alone (22), bare metal stent (28), and stent graft (20). Patencies were described with Kaplan-Meier method, and Cox uni- and multivariate models were analyzed to find factors associated.Results: All patients had a favorable anatomical and clinical outcome. Restenosis occurred in 22 (31%) of 70 patients requiring 41 additional interventions; 34 of 70 patients died (median follow-up 19.4 months). Primary patency at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months was 100%, 100%, 100%, and 84% for stent graft versus 90%, 79%, 58%, and 43% for angioplasty ( P = .014) versus 84%, 80%, 75%, and 46% for bare-metal stent ( P = .062). The overall comparison was more favorable for stent graft ( P = .020) when the sites of lesions were matched. Patencies for angioplasty and bare-metal stents were equivalent ( P = .141). A lower risk of restenosis (hazard rate [HR] 0.20, confidence interval [CI] 0.06-0.7) and fewer reinterventions ( P < .01) were associated with stent graft, whereas age (HR 1.04, CI 1.001-1.08) and cardiovascular disease (HR 2.26, CI 1.06-4.84) influenced the overall survival. No difference in assisted primary patency was found.Conclusion: Stent graft seems to improve primary patency for central venous stenosis and requires fewer reinterventions in a dialysis population with a high prevalence of long-term catheters.