OBJECTIVE: This cross-sectional survey aimed to determine the prevalence of Interventional Nephrology (IN) practice amongst nephrologists in the Asia-Pacific Region (APR), specifically related to dialysis access (DA).
METHODS: The Association of VA and intervenTionAl Renal physicians (AVATAR) Foundation from India conducted a multinational online survey amongst nephrologists from the Asia-Pacific to determine the practice of IN in the planning, creation, and management of dialysis access. The treatment modalities, manpower and equipment availability, monthly cost of treatment, specifics of dialysis access interventions, and challenges in the training and practice of IN by nephrologists were included in the survey.
RESULTS: Twenty-one countries from the APR participated in the survey. Nephrologists from 18 (85.7%) countries reported performing at least one of the basic dialysis access-related IN procedures, primarily the placement of non-tunnelled central catheters (n-TCC; 71.5%). Only 10 countries (47.6%) reported having an average of <4% of nephrologists performing any of the advanced IN access procedures, the most common being the placement of a peritoneal dialysis (PD) catheter (20%). Lack of formal training (57.14%), time (42.8%), incentive (38%), institutional support (38%), medico-legal protection (28.6%), and prohibitive cost (23.8%) were the main challenges to practice IN. The primary obstacles to implementing the IN training were a lack of funding and skilled personnel.
CONCLUSIONS: The practice of dialysis access-related IN in APR is inadequate, mostly due to a lack of training, backup support, and economic constraints, whereas training in access-related IN is constrained by a lack of a skilled workforce and finances.

UNASSIGNED: Ultrasound-guided central venous catheter placement has significantly improved the success rate of punctures and reduced the risk of complications. However, catheterizing the internal jugular vein under ultrasound guidance in neonates remains challenging.
UNASSIGNED: Ninety-six patients were screened for eligibility in this randomized controlled trial between November 2018 and October 2019. After meeting the inclusion criteria, 90 term neonates undergoing cardiothoracic, general, or neurosurgery procedures were randomly assigned to the modified dynamic needle tip positioning short-axis (n = 45) or long-axis groups (n = 45) using a computer-generated random numbers table. The primary outcome was the first-attempt success rate. The secondary outcomes included the total success rate, cannulation time, and incidence of cannulation-related complications, including hematoma, accidental arterial puncture, or pneumothorax. Data were compared between the two groups.
UNASSIGNED: The success rate for the first attempt was higher (88.9% vs 64.4%; p = 0.001; relative risk, 1.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-1.8), while the cannulation time was shorter (171.0 ± 47.8 s vs 304.4 ± 113.5 s; p = 0.001; estimated difference, -133.4; 95% confidence interval, -170.1 to -96.7), in the modified dynamic needle tip positioning short-axis group compared with the long-axis group. Six hematomas and two common carotid artery punctures were identified in the long-axis group, while none were identified in the modified dynamic needle tip positioning short-axis group.
UNASSIGNED: The modified dynamic needle tip positioning short-axis out-of-plane technique enhanced the procedural efficacy and safety of internal jugular vein catheterization in neonates.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has stunted medical education activities, resulting in most conferences being cancelled or postponed. To continue professional education during this crisis, web-based conferences can be conducted via livestream and an audience interaction platform as an alternative.
OBJECTIVE: The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic has affected human connections worldwide. Conventional conferences have been replaced by web-based conferences. However, web-based conferencing has its challenges and limitations. This paper reports the logistics and preparations required for converting an international, on-site, multidisciplinary conference into a completely web-based conference within 3 weeks during the pandemic.
METHODS: The program was revised, and a teleconference system, live recording system, director system setup, and broadcasting platform were arranged to conduct the web-based conference.
RESULTS: We used YouTube (Alphabet Inc) and WeChat (Tencent Holdings Limited) for the web-based conference. Of the 24 hours of the conventional conference, 21.5 hours (90%) were retained in the web-based conference via live broadcasting. The conference was attended by 71% (37/52) of the original international faculties and 71% (27/38) of the overall faculties. In total, 61 out of 66 presentations (92%) were delivered. A special session-\"Dialysis access management under the impact of viral epidemics\"-was added to replace precongress workshops and competitions. The conference received 1810, 1452, and 1008 visits on YouTube and 6777, 4623, and 3100 visits on WeChat on conference days 1, 2, and 3, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: Switching from a conventional on-site conference to a completely web-based format within a short period is a feasible method for maintaining professional education in a socially responsible manner during a pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: Functional vein end to arterial side (ETS) anastomosis uses vein side to arterial side (STS) anastomosis with distal vein ligation, which can achieve similar effects as those of ETS after STS anastomosis. The purpose of the study was to provide a meta-analysis to compare the clinical outcomes between traditional and functional ETS anastomosis in radiocephalic fistula for dialysis access.
METHODS: Databases including PubMed, EMbase, the Cochrane Library, CNKI, Wanfang database were searched from the inception to February 6, 2020. Eligible studies comparing traditional and functional ETS anastomosis in radiocephalic fistula were included. Data were analyzed using Review Manager Version 5.3.
RESULTS: Seven studies were included in the meta-analysis. Five randomized controlled trials and two cohort studies involving 841 patients were identified. Compared with traditional ETS anastomosis, functional ETS anastomosis had shorter anastomosis time (MD - 9.54, 95% CI - 17.96 to - 1.12, P = 0.03), higher surgical success rate (OR 3.80, 95% CI 1.76-8.22, P < 0.01), fewer complications(OR 0.18, 95% CI 0.08-0.39, P < 0.01), higher patency rate after 3 months (OR 4.91, 95% CI 1.19-20.33, P = 0.03), higher patency rate after 6 months (OR 1.90, 95%CI 1.09-3.31, P = 0.02), higher patency rate after 12 months (OR 1.70, 95% CI 1.09-2.66, P = 0.02). There was no difference after the two arteriovenous (AVF) anastomosisl methods concerning AVF maturation time (SMD - 0.48, 95% CI - 1.30-0.34, P = 0.25) and patency rate after 1 month (OR 1.77, 95% CI 0.65-4.80, P = 0.26).
CONCLUSIONS: Functional ETS anastomosis had advantages of easy operation, high surgical success rate, few complications, high patency rate of 3 months and long-term, but did not have obvious advantage in the early stages concerning AVF maturation time and 1-month patency rate.

UNASSIGNED: Central venous catheter insertion for long-term vascular access is not recommended in clinical practice. However, since arteriovenous fistula creation is difficult to perform in some patients, central venous catheter insertion for long-term vascular access is performed. This study aimed to assess the complications and service time of central venous catheters replaced using different methods and to determine the influencing factors of service time.
UNASSIGNED: Study design: A retrospective observational cohort study. Setting and participants: Patients who underwent tunneled dialysis catheter malfunction (2009-2019) and had to undergo another dialysis catheter insertion were enrolled. Exposures: Ectopic replacement and in situ replacement. Outcomes: Factors such as age, sex, primary patency rate, secondary patency rate, early complications, and late complications were considered. Analytical approach: This study used a Cox proportional hazards regression model.
UNASSIGNED: The first and the newly replaced catheter service time were 37.779 ± 24.563 months and 32.468 ± 26.638 (25) months in the ectopic group and 37.075 ± 20.550 months and 26.349 ± 22.672 months in the in situ group, respectively. In the early service time, the newly replaced catheter resulted in significant bleeding from the tunnel. The first catheter had the least complications, most adequate blood flow, and longest service time. Ectopic catheter replacement and the tip shape of the catheter were the independent factors for catheter service time. Catheter service time increased with age.
UNASSIGNED: Ectopic catheter replacement can improve the primary patency rate and auxiliary primary patency rate of catheters. Ectopic catheter replacement may require sufficient surgical skills with digital subtraction angiography, resulting in a better prognosis.

The utility of early postoperative ultrasound measurements in predicting arteriovenous fistula (AVF) clinical maturation is uncertain.
We investigated the relationships of ultrasound parameters with AVF clinical maturation in newly created AVF, measured at 1 day and 2 and 6 weeks, in 602 participants of a multicenter, observational cohort study. A backward elimination algorithm identified ultrasound measurements that independently predicted unassisted and overall AVF maturation. Candidate variables included AVF blood flow, diameter, and depth, upper arm arterial diameter, presence of stenosis, presence of accessory veins, seven case-mix factors (age, sex, black race, AVF location, diabetes, dialysis status, and body mass index), and clinical center. We evaluated the accuracy of the resulting models for clinical prediction.
At each ultrasound measurement time, AVF blood flow, diameter, and depth each predicted in a statistically significant manner both unassisted and overall clinical maturation. Moreover, neither the remaining ultrasound parameters nor case-mix factors were associated with clinical AVF maturation after accounting for blood flow, diameter, and depth, although maturation probabilities differed among clinical centers before and after accounting for these parameters. The crossvalidated area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for models constructed using these three ultrasound parameters was 0.69, 0.74, and 0.79 at 1 day and 2 and 6 weeks, respectively, for unassisted AVF clinical maturation and 0.69, 0.71, and 0.76, respectively, for overall AVF maturation.
AVF blood flow, diameter, and depth moderately predicted unassisted and overall AVF clinical maturation. The other factors considered did not further improve AVF maturation prediction.

Stenosis from venous neointimal hyperplasia is common in native arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs). However, the preexisting histologic characteristics of veins at fistula creation, and associations thereof with baseline patient factors, have not been well characterized. In this study, we conducted histologic analysis of a segment of the vein used for anastomosis creation, obtained during AVF creation from 554 of the 602 participants in the multicenter Hemodialysis Fistula Maturation Cohort Study. We quantified intimal and medial areas and lengths of the internal and external elastic lamina by morphometry and assessed venous wall cells by immunohistochemistry, extracellular matrix with Movat stain, and calcium deposition by alizarin red stain. We also studied a representative subset of veins for markers of monocyte/macrophage content, cell proliferation, apoptosis, and neoangiogenesis. Neointima occupied >20% of the lumen in 57% of fully circumferential vein samples, and neointimal hyperplasia associated positively with age and inversely with black race. The neointima was usually irregularly thickened, sometimes concentric, and contained α-smooth muscle actin-expressing cells of smooth muscle or myofibroblast origin. Proteoglycans admixed with lesser amounts of collagen constituted the predominant matrix in the neointima. In 82% of vein samples, the media of vessel walls contained large aggregates of collagen. A minority of veins expressed markers of inflammation, cell proliferation, cell death, calcification, or neoangiogenesis. In conclusion, we observed preexisting abnormalities, including neointimal hyperplasia and prominent accumulation of extracellular matrix, in veins used for AVF creation from a substantial proportion of this cohort.