title: Pulmonary hypertension among end-stage renal failure patients following hemodialysis access thrombectomy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Percutaneous hemodialysis thrombectomy causes subclinical pulmonary emboli without short-term clinical consequence; the long-term effects on the pulmonary arterial vasculature are unknown. We compared the prevalence of pulmonary hypertension between patients who underwent one or more hemodialysis access thrombectomy procedures with controls without prior thrombectomy.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective case-control study was performed. Cases (n = 88) had undergone one or more hemodialysis graft thrombectomy procedures, with subsequent echocardiography during routine investigation of comorbid cardiovascular disease. Cases were compared with controls without end-stage renal disease (ESRD) (n = 100, group 1), and controls with ESRD but no prior thrombectomy procedures (n = 117, group 2). The presence and velocity of tricuspid regurgitation on echocardiography was used to determine the prevalence and grade of pulmonary hypertension; these were compared between cases and controls using the chi-square test and logistic regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of pulmonary hypertension among cases was 52% (46/88), consisting of mild, moderate and severe in 26% (n = 23), 10% (n = 9) and 16% (n = 14), respectively. Prevalence of pulmonary hypertension among group 1 controls was 26% (26/100), consisting of mild, moderate and severe pulmonary hypertension in 14%, 5% and 7%, respectively. Cases had 2.7 times greater odds of having pulmonary hypertension than group 1 controls (p = 0.002). The prevalence of pulmonary hypertension among group 2 controls was 42% (49/117), consisting of mild, moderate and severe pulmonary arterial hypertension in 25% (n = 49), 10% (n = 12) and 4% (n = 5), respectively. Cases were slightly more likely to have pulmonary hypertension than group 2 controls (OR = 1.5), although this failed to reach statistical significance (p = 0.14).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Prior hemodialysis access thrombectomy does not appear to be a risk factor for pulmonary arterial hypertension. Patients with ESRD are more likely to have pulmonary hypertension.
authors.affiliation: Section of Interventional Radiology, Department of Radiology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Harp
authors.forename: S William
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Stavropoulos
authors.forename: Alan G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Wasserstein
authors.forename: Timothy W I
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Clark
mesh_terms: D001166:Arteriovenous Shunt, Surgical; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006083:Graft Occlusion, Vascular / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017131:Thrombectomy / Q000379:methods*; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology; D018084:Ultrasonography, Interventional