Percutaneous Arteriovenous Fistula Creation with the WavelinQ 4-French EndoAVF System: A Single-Center Retrospective Analysis of 30 Patients.

Purpose: To retrospectively assess the safety and efficacy of percutaneous arteriovenous fistula (pAVF) creation with the WavelinQ 4-F EndoAVF System.

Materials And Methods: From February 2018 to June 2020, 30 pAVFs were created in 30 consecutive patients (men; age, 55.3 years ± 13.6). Of the 30 patients, 21 (70%) were already on hemodialysis using a central venous catheter. The primary outcome measures were technical success, complications, and cannulation rate. The secondary outcome measures included the number of secondary procedures needed for cannulation, maintenance time to cannulation, and pAVF survival.

Results: Technical success was 100%. The adverse event rate was 6.7% (2/30), including a pseudoaneurysm of the brachial artery that developed immediately after sheath removal and an aneurysm of the anastomosis 17 days after the procedure, which was treated with a covered stent placed in the arterial side. The mean follow-up was 547 days ± 315.7 (range, 14-1,071 days). The cannulation rate was 86.7% (26/30). The mean time to cannulation was 61.3 days ± 32.5 (range, 15-135 days). The mean follow-up after cannulation was 566.2 days ± 252.7 (range, 35-1,041 days). Four pAVFs were thrombosed after cannulation, with 2 of them successfully declotted. Sixteen interventions were needed to achieve cannulation after the index procedure in 15 patients (overall, 0.53 procedures/patient). Seven maintenance endovascular interventions (following cannulation) were performed during the follow-up period in 6 patients (overall, 0.27 procedures/patient, 0.17 procedures/patient-years). For the pAVFs that were cannulated, patency was 96% at 1 year, and 82% at 2 and 3 years, according to the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis.

Conclusions: This initial experience suggests that pAVF creation is safe and can be successfully performed with high maturation and long-term patency rates. Larger-scale prospective studies are needed to validate the results.