Radiological intervention to maintain vascular access

Stenoses and thromboses of dialysis grafts and fistulae are common problems in patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD). Timely recognition and treatment of access-related complications are essential to achieve long-term access function. Minimally invasive percutaneous interventions are techniques of growing importance for the interventional community. While stenoses can typically be treated by balloon angioplasty (PTA), thrombotic lesions may necessitate the combination of mechanical devices and/or thrombolytic agents with ancillary PTA. In this article, interventional treatments for the failing arteriovenous (AV) access are presented and reviewed.