title: MDCT angiography for evaluation of the complete vascular tree of hemodialysis fistulas.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of our study was to assess the clinical feasibility of MDCT angiography for evaluating hemodialysis arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs).
  
  
  METHODS
  MDCT angiography of the complete vascular trees of 36 failing AVFs or AVF-related complications (20 native and 16 polytetrafluoroethylene graft AVFs) was reviewed. The numbers and degrees of stenoses at the anastomoses, graft loops, and draining and central veins and the presence of aneurysms or thrombosis were recorded. Wilcoxon's signed rank test was used to compare the findings of MDCT angiography with those of digital subtraction angiography (DSA) (n = 10), surgery (n = 22), or both (n = 4) performed within 2-6 days. Kappa statistics were used to correlate the clinical feasibility of MDCT angiography assessed by two reviewers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the 14 AVFs examined with both MDCT angiography and DSA, no significant difference was seen in the detection and grading (p = 0.317 to > 0.999) of stenoses at various segments of the entire vascular tree. Among the 36 AVFs examined, MDCT angiography also showed no significant difference from DSA or surgery in revealing vascular stenoses, aneurysms, and thromboses from the supplying artery to central veins (p = 0.317 to > 0.999). Overall, the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and accuracy of MDCT angiography in lesion detection were 98.7%, 97.5%, 98.8%, 97.2%, and 98.3%, respectively. High image quality with superb interobserver correlation (kappa = 0.809 to > 0.999) validated the clinical feasibility of MDCT angiography for assessing AVFs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MDCT angiography is clinically feasible for evaluating the complete vascular tree of failing AVFs and in showing uncommon complications, including brachial aneurysms and central vein lesions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Kaohsiung, Chang Gung University, 123 Ta-Pei Rd., Niao-Sung Hsiang, Kaohsiung Hsien 833, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Sheung-Fat
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: Chung-Cheng
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Shu-Hang
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: Tze-Yu
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Ming-Jang
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: Fan-Yen
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Min-Chi
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Shyr-Ming
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Sheen-Chen
authors.forename: Chi-Hsiung
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015901:Angiography, Digital Subtraction; D001166:Arteriovenous Shunt, Surgical; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006083:Graft Occlusion, Vascular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011138:Polytetrafluoroethylene; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D011138:Polytetrafluoroethylene