One hundred cases of arteriovenous fistula for haemodialysis access: the effect of cigarette smoking on patency.

The results of 100 radiocephalic arteriovenous fistulae formed in 85 patients to provide access for haemodialysis have been assessed. First fistulae had an immediate patency of 90.5% and a patency predicted by life table analysis of 78% at 1 year. An additional 15 fistulae were formed after initial failure in 13 patients, and the predicted patency for all fistulae was 76% at 1 year and 73% at 2 years, with no subsequent failures during the period of the study. Access was established and maintained in 77 patients (90.6%) using the first or a subsequent radiocephalic fistula, and the requirement for other access procedures was low. There was a significantly higher incidence of early and late fistula failure in those patients who were cigarette smokers.