Long-term results of autologous scaffold-free tissue-engineered vascular graft for hemodialysis access.

Background: The growing size of the end stage renal disease (ESRD) population highlights the need for effective dialysis access. Exhausted native vascular access options have led to increased use of catheters and prosthetic shunts, which are both associated with high risks of access failure and infection. Emerging alternatives include tissue-engineered vascular grafts (TEVG).

Analysis of 65 Renal Biopsies From Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis (1976-2015): Change in Treatment Strategies Decreased Frequency and Modified Histopathological Findings.

Introduction: No inherent renal lesions are known in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but urinary abnormalities and renal dysfunction have been described.

Objective: First, we describe the histopathological findings of renal biopsies (RBs) in patients with RA and associated clinical manifestations. Second, we evaluated time evolution of RA and the relationship between drugs and renal disease.

Weekly high-dose ergocalciferol to correct vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency in hemodialysis patients: a pilot trial.

Controversy exists on which vitamin D (D2 or D3) and which dosage scheme is the best to obtain and maintain adequate 25 OH D levels in dialysis patients safely. We tried to determine whether high-dose vitamin D2 supplementation could obtain optimal vitamin D status without inducing hypercalcemia. We studied 82 patients on dialysis not taking active vitamin D therapy and supplemented them with oral vitamin D2 72,000 IU/week for 12 weeks followed by 24,000 IU/week as maintenance therapy during 36 weeks.

Effectiveness of haemodialysis access with an autologous tissue-engineered vascular graft: a multicentre cohort study.

Background: Application of a tissue-engineered vascular graft for small-diameter vascular reconstruction has been a long awaited and much anticipated advance for vascular surgery. We report results after a minimum of 6 months of follow-up for the first ten patients implanted with a completely biological and autologous tissue-engineered vascular graft.

Methods: Ten patients with end-stage renal disease who had been receiving haemodialysis through an access graft that had a high probability of failure, and had had at least one previous access failure, were enrolled from centres in Argentina and Poland between September, 2004, and April, 2007.

Mechanical properties of completely autologous human tissue engineered blood vessels compared to human saphenous vein and mammary artery.

We have previously reported the initial clinical feasibility with our small diameter tissue engineered blood vessel (TEBV). Here we present in vitro results of the mechanical properties of the TEBVs of the first 25 patients enrolled in an arterio-venous (A-V) shunt safety trial, and compare these properties with those of risk-matched human vein and artery. TEBV average burst pressures (3490+/-892 mmHg, n=230) were higher than native saphenous vein (SV) (1599+/-877 mmHg, n=7), and not significantly different from native internal mammary artery (IMA) (3196+/-1264 mmHg, n=16).

Technology insight: the evolution of tissue-engineered vascular grafts--from research to clinical practice.

There is a considerable clinical need for alternatives to the autologous vein and artery tissues used for vascular reconstructive surgeries such as CABG, lower limb bypass, arteriovenous shunts and repair of congenital defects to the pulmonary outflow tract. So far, synthetic materials have not matched the efficacy of native tissues, particularly in small diameter applications. The development of cardiovascular tissue engineering introduced the possibility of a living, biological graft that might mimic the functional properties of native vessels.