ARTERIO-VENOUS FISTULA ULTRASOUND IN CHRONIC HEMODIALYSIS PATIENTS – CLINICAL-IMAGISTIC CORRELATIONS

The arterio-venous fistula is the elective vascular access for chronic hemodialysis patients. Its complications can severely affect the patient′s life, raise the morbidity and consequently the healthcare costs. Routinely, the arteriovenous fistula is evaluated clinically at the hemodialysis session, but numerous complications can only be diagnosed imastically, including those that endanger rhe well functioning of the access, and implicitely, of the dialysis. Doppler ultrasound is non-invasive, accurate, offers both morphological and functional details and allows the timely discovery of the anommalies of the arterio-venous fistula, moreover it is less costly and doesn′t require contrast media and ionizing radiations. The aim of the study is to establish the complications of the vascular access in 193 hemodialysis patients in Arad County, through Doppler ultrasound performed in the dialysis centre and to determine the clinical implications of these complications