https://doi.org/10.1177/1129729819830361 The Journal of Vascular Access 1–6 © The Author(s) 2019 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/1129729819830361 journals.sagepub.com/home/jva JVA Te Journal of Vascular Access Introduction A reliable and mature vascular access affects survival of a hemodialysis patient and considered as lifeline for patients on maintenance hemodialysis (MHD). Arteriovenous fis- tula (AVF) is considered as gold standard access for patients on MHD as AVFs are associated with lower mor- tality and morbidity as compared to dialysis catheters. 1 With increasing prevalence of diabetes, and hyperten- sion and subsequently end-stage renal disease (ESRD), it is estimated that about 200,000 people enter into the pool of ESRD population every year requiring renal replace- ment therapy (RRT) in India. 2 Timely creation of vascular access by only vascular surgeon is beyond the reach for majority of ESRD patients. In India, AVF surgeries are usually performed late as two-thirds of the patients see nephrologists first time after they reach ESRD and dialysis is initiated through temporary vascular access. 3 AVFs are mainly made by urologists and vascular surgeons. Besides old age and diabetes, lack of man power to create AVF contributes to the non-availability of AVF for initiation of dialysis. Involvement of nephrologists in making AVF may help in filling the gap between demand and supply of man power Outcomes of radiocephalic fistula created by nephrologists Narayan Prasad 1 , Venkatesh Thammishetti 1 , DS Bhadauria 1 , Anupama Kaul 1 , RK Sharma 1 , Aneesh Srivastava 2 and Amit Gupta 1 Abstract Introduction: Arteriovenous fistula is considered as gold standard access for maintenance hemodialysis. Due to increasing burden of end-stage renal disease requiring dialysis, it is important for nephrologists to complement creation of arteriovenous fistula to meet the demand. Methods: This retrospective study was designed to assess the outcomes of arteriovenous fistula made by nephrologists at a tertiary care center from North India. The study included all radiocephalic arteriovenous fistula performed by nephrologists between November 2015 and January 2017. All arteriovenous fistulas were performed in patients whose duplex ultrasonography revealed both arterial and venous diameter of at least 2 mm. Data were collected with regard to age, gender, dialysis status, basic diseases, co-morbidities, and mineral bone disease parameters. The predictors of the primary and secondary patency rates were analyzed. Results: Five hundred patients (age 39.3 ± 14.4 years; 82.4% males; 21.6% diabetics) were included. In total, 83 (16.6%) patients had primary failure and 31 (7%) patients had secondary failure. Diabetes was associated with poor primary and secondary patency rates. Mean survival among the patients without primary failure was 11 months. The primary patency rates at 3, 6, 12, 18, and 21 months were 82%, 78%, 73%, 70%, and 70%, respectively. Conclusion: To conclude, the outcomes of radiocephalic arteriovenous fistulas created by nephrologists are at par with historic outcomes. Keywords Arteriovenous fistula, mineral bone disease, primary failure, secondary failure, stenosis, survival, thrombosis Date received: 15 July 2018; accepted: 20 January 2019 1 Department of Nephrology, SGPGI, Lucknow, India 2 Department of Urology, SGPGI, Lucknow, India Corresponding author: Narayan Prasad, Department of Nephrology, SGPGI, Lucknow 226014, Uttar Pradesh, India. Email: narayan.nephro@gmail.com 830361JVA 0 0 10.1177/1129729819830361The Journal of Vascular AccessPrasad et al. research-article 2019 Original research article