The blood flow rate on the first day after arteriovenous fistula creation is a predictor of successful fistula maturation

Background: The determination of blood flow rate (BFR) is a useful tool for assessing the function of arteriovenous fistula (AVF).

Methods: Eighty patients with a newly created radio cephalic AVF were analyzed. Hemodynamics and morphological characteristics of the blood vessels were assessed by Doppler ultrasound.

Results: The mean age of patients was 59.9 ± 13.5 years. A successful rate of AVF maturation was 62.5% at 8 weeks. Six adjusted models of multivariate analysis showed that BFR at Day 1 was a predictor for AVF maturation both at 4 weeks (p < 0.001) and 8 weeks (p < 0.001). Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed an optimal cut-off point for BFR at Day 1 of 395 ml/min for successful maturation at 4 weeks (sensitivity 0.714, specificity 0.889) and 344 ml/min for successful maturation at 8 weeks (sensitivity 0.860, specificity 0.867).

Conclusion: BFR at Day 1 is a powerful predictor for successful AVF maturation at 4 and 8 weeks.