Mafalda Carrington et al. Pedro Silvério António Natacha Rodrigues Afonso Nunes-Ferreira … Ana Bernardes Fausto J. Pinto João de Sousa Pedro Marques
Introduction
Vascular patrimony is a major concern in patients with end-stage renal disease. As patients on chronic hemodialysis programs experience increasing survival rates, they frequently face multiple vascular access failures and may need recurrent central venous catheter insertions and fistula/grafts re-interventions to optimize their arteriovenous accesses. In addition, heart failure and heart rhythm disorders are frequent comorbidities in this population, and pacemaker or implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) implantation are frequently indicated. The estimated prevalence of Cardiovascular Electronic Implantable Devices (CIED) implantation in patients on chronic hemodialysis is about 10%. We aimed to describe a new technique for pacemaker implantation, which consisted in preserving cephalic vein ipsilateral to arteriovenous fistula flow, and in evaluating clinical outcomes of this technique over 12 months.
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