TITLE:
Chest Radiography and Echocardiography Predictors of Early Hemodialysis Catheter Dysfunction
AUTHORS:
Kirsteen Burton, Jeremy O'Brien, Dheeraj Rajan
KEYWORDS:
Dialysis; Interventional Radiology; Echocardiography
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Radiology,
Vol.2 No.3,
September
28,
2012
ABSTRACT: Purpose: To determine whether radiographic heart morphology and echocardiography findings were associated with early central venous catheter (CVC) failure in hemodialysis patients. Materials & Methods: All hemodialysis catheter insertions between 1996-2007 were captured in a combined nephrology radiology database. Factors were identified that may be associated with early catheter failure. Factors examined included: echocardiography findings, radiographic evidence of flattened heart border, boot-shaped heart and left ventricular hypertrophy as well as patient comorbidities and peri-procedural characteristics. Results: Of the 132 CVC failures in 132 patients, 67 (50.8%) occurred within 30 days of insertion. Early CVC failure was more likely to occur in patients who had insertions from the left side (?2, p = 0.020) and with catheter tip position outside the cavoatrial junction (?2, p = 0.040). CVC failure rates also differed by year of placement (?2, p