Vascular Access Clots Tied To Low BP During Dialysis

More frequent episodes of hypotension during dialysis and lower predialysis systolic blood pressure (BP) are associated with increased rates of thrombosis at the vascular access point, according to the findings of a recent analysis published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (2011;22:1526-1533).

Over a median follow-up of 3.1 years, 2,005 episodes of vascular access thrombosis occurred in 1,426 subjects enrolled in the HEMO study. Patients with the most episodes of low BP during dialysis were approximately twice as likely to have a clotted fistula than patients with the fewest hypotension episodes, independent of predialysis systolic BP and other covariates.