Arteriovenous Graft Occlusion clinical trials

Sirolimus Coated Angioplasty Balloon in the Salvage of Thrombosed Arteriovenous Graft

End stage renal disease is on increasing trend. Haemodialysis is the main dialysis modality among these patients which accounts for the incidence of 81.3% in 2015 based on data from Singapore renal registry. Thus, A functioning dialysis vascular access (either arteriovenous Fistula or graft) is critical to the delivery of life-saving haemodialysis treatment to these patients. The main focus in our study is thrombosed (blocked) AVG as it has higher thrombosis rate and poorer patency rate. Conventionally, to restore the function of the dialysis access, the thrombus (clot) will be lysed with the use of lytic agent; followed by treatment of the underlying stenosis (narrowing) with plain balloon angioplasty (dilatation). However narrowing often recur and multiple repeated angioplasty procedures are needed keep the AVG flowing to prevent clots formation. Recently developed balloons called drug eluting balloons, are coated with medications to prevent the narrowing from recurring after angioplasty. With these drug balloons, the AVG can potentially continue to have good flow for a longer period of time, hence, decreasing the chance of clotting. A newer generation of drug-eluting balloon, called sirolimus coated balloon, are coated with a medicine called sirolimus. It has been successfully used in the treatment of narrowing of vessels in the leg and heart and it were superior than conventional paclitaxel coated balloon angioplasty. We hypothesis that sirolimus coated balloon is superior to conventional plain balloon angioplasty with decreased re-stenosis of target lesion, improved access circuit and target lesion patency, and decreased number of interventions needed to maintain patency.