Better Outcomes Are Needed
Dialysis is the primary lifeline for patients with end-stage renal disease, but dialysis access sites are prone to failure, reducing the quality and length of life for patients.
1 in 8People worldwide suffer from chronic kidney disease [1]Lv JC, Zhang LX. Prevalence and Disease Burden of Chronic Kidney Disease. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2019;1165:3-15. doi: 10.1007/978-981-13-8871-2_1.
480K+End-stage renal disease patients on hemodialysis in the US [2]United States Renal Data System. 2020 USRDS Annual Data Report: Epidemiology of kidney disease in the United States. End Stage Renal Disease, Chapter 3: Vascular Access. National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, MD, 2020.
50-60%Failure rate of dialysis access sites in the first year [3]United States Renal Data System. 2018 USRDS Annual Data Report: Epidemiology of kidney disease in the United States. Chapter 3: Vascular Access. National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, MD, 2018. [4]Al-Jaishi AA, Oliver MJ, Thomas SM, Lok CE, Zhang JC, Garg AX, Kosa SD, Quinn RR, Moist LM. Patency rates of the arteriovenous fistula for hemodialysis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Kidney Dis. 2014 Mar;63(3):464-78. doi: 10.1053/j.ajkd.2013.08.023. Epub 2013 Oct 30.
$4B+Annual Medicare costs due to access site failures [5]Thamer M, Lee TC, Wasse H, Glickman MH, Qian J, Gottlieb D, Toner S, Pflederer TA. Medicare Costs Associated With Arteriovenous Fistulas Among US Hemodialysis Patients. Am J Kidney Dis. 2018 Jul;72(1):10-18. doi: 10.1053/j.ajkd.2018.01.034. Epub 2018 Mar 28.