A retrospective comparison analysis of results of drug-coated balloon versus plain balloon angioplasty in treatment of juxta-anastomotic de novo stenosis of radiocephalic arteriovenous fistulas

Background: Juxta-anastomotic stenosis is a common issue of arteriovenous fistulas. We aimed to evaluate the results of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty with drug-coated balloon versus plain balloon for the treatment of juxta-anastomotic stenoses of mature but failing distal radiocephalic arteriovenous fistulas. Methods: A total of 80 patients with a juxta-anastomotic stenosis of distal radiocephalic arteriovenous fistula in our clinic between January 2016 and September 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into two groups according to the type of treatment as drug-coated balloon – percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (n = 44) and plain balloon – percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (n = 43). Intra- and post-procedural data were recorded. Target lesion primary patency rate was evaluated at 6 and 12 months. Of all patients, 48 were females and 39 were males with a mean age of 56.3 ± 10.4 (range, 24–75) years. Both groups had mature fistulas, and the mean age of fistula was 11.3 ± 9.1 months in the drug-coated balloon – percutaneous transluminal angioplasty group and 10.3 ± 8.8 months in the plain balloon – percutaneous transluminal angioplasty group (p = 0.24). Results: There was no significant difference in the target lesion stenosis rate and the median lesion length between the groups. Technical and clinical success were achieved in both groups. Target lesion primary patency was similar at 6 months between the two groups (93.1% vs 81.3%, respectively; p = 0.14) but significantly higher for the drug-coated balloon – percutaneous transluminal angioplasty group at 12 months (81.8% vs 51.1%, respectively; p = 0.01). Conclusion: Our study results suggest that the use of drug-coated balloon combined with percutaneous transluminal angioplasty is an effective treatment for juxta-anastomotic stenoses of mature but failing distal radiocephalic arteriovenous fistulas with significantly improved target lesion primary patency rates and reduced need for juxta-anastomotic reinterventions.