SMART stent for salvage of hemodialysis access grafts

To evaluate the SMART stent for treating angioplasty-resistant hemodialysis access venous stenoses.

A retrospective study of 64 patients with polytetrafluoroethylene grafts who were treated with the SMART stent at 69 locations in the venous outflow tract was undertaken. Stents were used for elastic recoil after percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, venous rupture, or recurrent stenosis less than 3 months after angioplasty. When angiographic follow-up was available, the degree of in-stent restenosis was measured. Primary patency was determined, and, when applicable, compared with that of previous angioplasty treatments of the same lesion.

The SMART stent was placed in 15 central veins and 54 peripheral veins, with a 98% technical success rate and a 97% clinical success rate. The mean primary access patency times were 14.9 months and 8.9 months in patients who received central and peripheral stents, respectively. In 19 patients whose central or peripheral venous stenoses were previously treated with angioplasty, the mean primary access patency was increased from 2.5 months to 10.6 months after placement of the SMART stent (P = .0003). Angiography in 29 patients after an average of 348 days showed 55% mean in-stent stenosis. The only stent-related complication occurred in a patient who had venous dissection associated with the edge of a SMART stent placed at the elbow.

The SMART stent is safe and effective for treating dialysis access venous stenoses that are resistant to standard angioplasty.