Review Article
Prognostic Factors Influencing the Patency of Hemodialysis Vascular Access: Literature Review and Novel Therapeutic Modality by Far Infrared Therapy

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1726-4901(09)70035-8Get rights and content
Under an Elsevier user license
open archive

In Taiwan, more than 85% of patients with end-stage renal disease undergo maintenance hemodialysis (HD). The native arteriovenous fistula (AVF) accounts for a prevalence of more than 80% of the vascular access in our patients. Some mechanical factors may affect the patency of hemodialysis vascular access, such as surgical skill, puncture technique and shear stress on the vascular endothelium. Several medical factors have also been identified to be associated with vascular access prognosis in HD patients, including stasis, hypercoagulability, endothelial cell injury, medications, red cell mass and genotype polymorphisms of transforming growth factor-β1 and methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase. According to our previous study, AVF failure was associated with a longer dinucleotide (GT)n repeat (n ≥ 30) in the promoter of the heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) gene. Our recent study also demonstrated that far-infrared therapy, a noninvasive and convenient therapeutic modality, can improve access flow, inflammatory status and survival of the AVF in HD patients through both its thermal and non-thermal (endothelial-improving, anti-inflammatory, antiproliferative, antioxidative) effects by upregulating NF-E2-related factor-2-dependent HO-1 expression, leading to the inhibition of expression of E-selectin, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, and intercellular adhesion molecule-1.

Key Words

far-infrared therapy
genotype polymorphism
heme oxygenase-1
hemodialysis
vascular access

Cited by (0)