title: Does poly-N-acetyl glucosamine patch use reduce arteriovenous fistula and graft failure rates in hemodialysis patients with end-stage renal disease?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Maintenance of functional vascular access is crucial for the delivery of hemodialysis. The SyvekPatch is a topical marine microalgal poly-N-acetyl glucosamine hemostat approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in the local management of bleeding wounds, such as vascular site, percutaneous catheters or tubes, and surgical debridement.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Preservation of Vascular Access Study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of patch use in reducing failure rates of arteriovenous fistulas or grafts. Data from medical records of patients who received hemodialysis from January 2001 to December 2005 at local ambulatory outpatient hemodialysis units in Charleston, South Carolina were analyzed. To explore whether greater use of the poly-N-acetyl glucosamine patch resulted in more favorable outcomes, patients were categorized into no patch use (n = 183) or 2 groups involving patch use, <70% of hemodialysis sessions (n = 88) or >or=70% of hemodialysis sessions (n = 64). The outcome measure was failure of access site estimated using Poisson regression models.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three hundred thirty-five patients (54% women) with 178 fistulas (44%) and 227 grafts (56%) were included. The study population was predominantly African American (84%), with a median age of 58 years. The adjusted relative rate of access failure involving patch use in <70% of hemodialysis sessions versus no patch use was 0.84 (95% CI, 0.37-1.94), and for patch use in >or=70% of hemodialysis sessions versus no patch use was 0.40 (95% CI, 0.16-1.02; trend P = 0.045).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Preservation of Vascular Access Study results are consistent with improved access survival with frequent patch use. The application of patch in this population is a simple, well-accepted intervention and warrants further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA. aunalp@jhsph.edu
authors.forename: Aynur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Unalp
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Ploth
authors.forename: Ryan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Colvin
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Counts
authors.forename: Pamela H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Shepp
authors.forename: Mark L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Van Natta
authors.forename: Curtis L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Meinert
mesh_terms: D000117:Acetylglucosamine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006487:Hemostasis; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000601:surgery*; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: C113831:poly-N-acetyl glucosamine; D000117:Acetylglucosamine