The American Society of Nephrology (ASN) has issued a press release welcoming the significant changes to the US Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN)—a sweeping “OPTN Modernisation Initiative”—announced today by US Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) administrator Carole...
Alio, the medical technology company behind the SmartPatch device for chronic disease, has announced its latest US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance. The company’s second clearance added three additional metrics to its remote patient monitoring platform—haematocrit, haemoglobin and...
  Procyrion, a medical device company which aims to improve outcomes for patients with cardiac and renal impairment, announced today that use of its Aortix percutaneous mechanical circulatory support (pMCS) device led to rapid decongestion in a pilot study of...
The Kidney Transplant Collaborative (KTC) has received significant new funding that it says will “empower the organisation’s mission to reduce barriers in the transplant system with the ultimate goal of increasing the number of individuals able to receive a...
Lower muscle mass, malnutrition, anaemia and depression—all of these, plus elevated mortality, are associated with lower rates of physical activity in patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). Compounding the problem for many such patients is the fact that, as...
The American Society of Nephrology (ASN) has announced a collaboration with the Home Dialysis University (HDU) to improve nephrology trainees’ knowledge, proficiency, and exposure to home dialysis therapies.  Through this new collaboration, ASN will provide up to 30 scholarships...
Talaris Therapeutics has announced that it has completed a review of its business and programme prospects. Based on this review, Talaris has decided to discontinue its FREEDOM-1 and FREEDOM-2 clinical trials evaluating FCR001’s ability to induce durable tolerance in...
Next month, Tanjala S Purnell (Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA) will receive the National Kidney Foundation's (NKF) Excellence in Transplantation Award at the 2023 NKF Spring Clinical Meetings in Austin, USA. This award recognises the scientist or clinician scientist...
A total of £10 million has been awarded to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)—an executive agency of the UK Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)—to help bring innovative new medicines and medical technologies to UK...
Interventional Systems has announced a new venture—called LARC Robotics—aimed at using surgical robotics for percutaneous renal access. Austria-based Interventional Systems said the unit simplifies percutaneous renal access in percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) procedures. This minimally invasive surgical technique helps to manage...
A new study in the Journal of Vascular Access (JVA) has found that, while arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) that do not require assistance to mature have the best outcomes in the long term, unassisted arteriovenous grafts (AVGs) demonstrate better outcomes...
Work exhaustion and a lack of fulfilment are driving burnout among US dialysis patient care technicians (PCTs), according to a new survey whose results have been published in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases (AJKD). The results corroborate those of...
A new trial of endovascular ultrasound-based renal denervation technology has found that it reduced blood pressure in hypertensive patients at two months. The RADIANCE II study, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), was carried out...
A study in Urologic Oncology led by Mario Ochoa-Arvizo (University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK) has found that partial nephrectomy is less likely to result in new-onset postoperative chronic kidney disease (CKD) than radical nephrectomy. The systematic literature review and...
More than 850 million people worldwide are living with kidney disease and are particularly affected by disastrous events as their ability to access appropriate care, complex and multi-faceted in nature, may be hindered.  “The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the challenges...
The 19th annual scientific meeting of the American Society of Diagnostic and Interventional Nephrology (ASDIN; 17–19 February, Orlando, USA) loomed large in February, with deep dives into drug-coated balloons and distal radial artery cannulation among the highlights. Elsewhere, interviews...
Living-donor kidney transplantation should be “treatment of choice” over deceased-donor transplantation, owing to it being the “most secure way to achieve pre-emptive kidney transplantation”. That is the view of a group of doctors writing in Frontiers in Public Health,...
A new retrospective cohort study published in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases (AJKD) has found that women are more likely to die from infection and dialysis withdrawal, contributing to a higher risk of all-cause mortality in the first...
In one of the select presentations at the American Society of Diagnostic and Interventional Nephrology (ASDIN) 19th Annual Scientific Meeting (17–19 February, Orlando, USA) to receive a mid-lecture round of applause, Victoria Teodorescu, associate professor of vascular surgery at...
Saravanan Balamuthusamy (PPG Healthcare, Fort Worth, USA) writes to assess recent evidence on the contribution that can be made to vascular access for dialysis by machine learning algorithms, including prediction of reintervention and the mitigation of costs. Predictive analytics with...
It was not just presentation sessions that featured during the Sunday morning of the American Society of Diagnostic and Interventional Nephrology (ASDIN) 19th Annual Scientific Meeting (17–19 February, Orlando, USA). Among the several hands-on elements of the conference were...
The European Union’s Council of Ministers has today adopted a resolution to extend the deadline for the certification of medical devices under the Medical Devices Regulation (MDR). Producers of medical devices will have until 31 December 2027 for higher risk...
A new multicentre cohort study in Australia has been conducted to investigate the effectiveness of an electronic alert system for the development of acute kidney injury (AKI) in high-serum creatinine patients. Sradha Kotwal (University of New South Wales, Randwick,...
Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) is more accurate and reliable than magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for examining certain kidney and liver nodules, according to two new studies published in the Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine (JUM) and highlighted by the International...
A new Kidney International-published multinational cohort study has found that the excess risk of mortality for women who receive a kidney transplant is greater than for men when the donor is male—though not to a statistically significant degree if...
ReCor Medical and its parent company, Otsuka Medical Devices, recently announced that primary endpoint results from the RADIANCE II pivotal trial were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Study results showed that the Paradise ultrasound...
A new study probing which chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients would benefit most from renal artery stenting points toward those who experience a more rapid decline in renal function over six months prior to the procedure. It is an area...
A new study of Japanese patients with and without chronic kidney disease (CKD) found that a lower frequency of vegetable and fruit intake was associated with a higher risk of death regardless of CKD status. Baseline serum potassium levels...
Acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients who have undergone heart procedures can be reduced by implementing online team-based coaching more than by utilising alternative assistance-based strategies—so say the authors of the IMPROVE-AKI study, results from which were recently published...
Patients receiving haemodialysis for chronic kidney disease (CKD) who are frail—however that is defined—have been found to be at greater risk of suffering cognitive impairment while receiving the treatment. “To our knowledge,” say the authors behind a new study,...
A report has been issued on methods for improving organ provision by the Organ Utilisation Group (OUG), a UK Department of Health-established body dedicated to making “recommendations on how to maximise the potential for organ transplantation from living and...
Procyrion has announced the successful treatment of the first patients in the A PRIORI—Aortix therapy for perioperative reductIon of renal injury—pilot trial to evaluate the performance of its Aortix percutaneous mechanical circulatory support (pMCS) device in preventing acute kidney...
NOTE: This video is ONLY available to watch in selected countries and geographies Robert Shahverdyan (Hamburg, Germany), Matteo Tozzi (Varese, Italy), Alexandros Mallios (Paris, France), Ounali Jaffer (London, UK) and Narayan Karunanithy (London, UK) each give their take on...
The publication of a consensus statement from the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Council on Hypertension and the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI) is among the final steps in the evaluation of renal denervation as a device-based...
The second day of the 2023 meeting of the American Society of Diagnostic and Interventional Nephrology (ASDIN; 17–19 February, Orlando, USA) played host to a packed afternoon session on new technologies for interventional nephrology. Amidst this came a presentation...
Xeltis has raised €32 million in a Series D2 equity fundraise, backed by a syndicate of current and new investors, which the company says will enable it to progress its clinical programmes into pivotal trials. Investors include Grand Pharma, DaVita...
Rajeev Narayan (San Antonio Health Center, San Antonio, USA) has presented at the American Society of Diagnostic and Interventional Nephrology (ASDIN) 19th Annual Scientific Meeting (17–19 February, Orlando, USA) to give his tips and tricks on distal radial artery...
The American Society of Diagnostic and Interventional Nephrology (ASDIN)’s 2023 meeting (17–19 February, Orlando, USA) has seen its second day start with style, as Tze-Woei Tan (Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA)...
Renal denervation represents another treatment option in patients with uncontrolled resistant hypertension and may be used in selected patients deemed intolerant to antihypertensive drugs. These are among the messages of a new consensus statement published in EuroIntervention following a review...

Robert Jones

“More than in any other medical discipline,” says Vascular Access Society of Britain and Ireland (VASBI) president Robert Jones, “interventional radiology (IR) is where medicine meets technology”. A consultant interventional radiologist at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, he is now...
The Kidney Transplant Collaborative (KTC) has shared an important update regarding the significant need for increased living donor kidney donations. New data from the 2022 Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) metrics confirms that while the kidney transplant system...
Compared to other races, African American patients are more likely to experience premature arteriovenous (AV) graft failure in the treatment of advanced kidney failure, according to a study published in Radiology, a journal of the Radiological Society of North...
Alio, a medical technology company reinventing the management of chronic disease, has announced that it has been selected as winner of the “IoT Health & Wellness Company of the Year” award. This is the seventh annual awards program conducted...
HistoSonics, the developer of a non-invasive platform and novel sonic beam therapy called histotripsy, announced today the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the company-sponsored #HOPE4KIDNEY trial, which is designed to evaluate the safety and technical success...
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients who are older or more vulnerable can achieve similar outcomes with their treatment, particularly on understanding of it and their condition, compared to those with less advanced disease through a combined “team-based approach” including “physicians,...
Transplant experts at Hackensack University Medical Centre have been the first in the USA to use new kidney preservation technology that can expand the window of time in which a kidney is viable—reducing the time it takes to receive...
Looking ahead to the upcoming Pan Arab Interventional Radiological Society meeting (PAIRS, 11–14 February, Dubai, UAE), Karim Abdel Tawab (Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt) speaks at the 2022 Endo Vascular Access Meeting (EVA, 4–8 July 2022, Patras, Greece) to...
Integrating patient-reported data on lifestyle and health information could help clinicians predict incident chronic kidney disease (CKD)—that’s the position of the authors behind a new study published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN). Prediction tools...
NOTE: This video is ONLY available to watch in selected countries and geographies  In this Renal Interventions roundtable, Andrew Holden (moderator; Auckland, New Zealand) is joined by Alexandros Mallios (Paris, France), Kate Steiner (Stevenage, UK) and Tobias Steinke (Düsseldorf, Germany)...

Renal Interventions 6

Highlights: Study finds endovascular arteriovenous fistula (endoAVF) procedures are less likely to cause steal syndrome than surgical arteriovenous fistula (sAVF) ones. An in-depth feature on cannulation, with a written contribution from Debbie Brouwer-Maier of Transonic on the need for...
A new way to reduce progression of diabetic kidney disease, affecting 40% of people with diabetes, has been discovered by researchers. A University of Bristol-led study, recently published in JCI Insight, could help the 4.8 million people in the...
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Jesduvroq tablets (daprodustat, GlaxoSmithKline) as the first oral treatment for anaemia caused by chronic kidney disease (CKD) for adults who have been receiving dialysis for at least four months. Jesduvroq...
A catheter produced by Medtronic and used in haemodialysis has been recalled due to a defect that “may cause serious adverse health outcomes”. An update on the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website has laid out the specifics...
The use of immunosuppressant drugs to facilitate allograft success in kidney transplant recipients “does not delay failure of renal transplants after development of donor specific antibodies (DSAs)”. That’s the conclusion of the OuTSMART trial, which has been published in...
Increased levels of omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) can cut the risk of incident chronic kidney disease (CKD) and lead to a “slower decline in renal function” according to new research published in The BMJ.  Previous studies such...
CardioRenal Systems have announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Device Designation for its RenalGuard Therapy device for the prevention of Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) in patients at risk for Cardiac Surgery Associated AKI...
Nextkidney, a Netherlands-based company that has developed the world’s first fully-portable haemodialysis device in the form of the NeoKidney, has raised €4.1 million in a new crowdfunding effort on the Oneplanetnow Dutch fundraising platform, co-led by the Generous Minds...
Vasc-Alert, a pioneer in vascular access surveillance, has announced the publication of a study in the Journal of Vascular Access (JVA) validating its Vasc-Alert surveillance technology for dialysis patients. The study shows that the technology reliably predicts which patients may...
The Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) Work Group has issued a 2022 update to its 2020 guideline for the management of diabetes in chronic kidney disease (CKD). KDIGO, which develops and publishes guidelines, said the update was an...
Deborah J Brouwer-Maier is the vascular access marketing manager for Transonic (Ithaca, USA) and a haemodialysis nurse of almost 40 years. Exploring how her experience has shaped her view of cannulation, she outlines its problems and what she argues...
Mukesh Sharma (University of Nevada Reno School of Medicine, Reno, USA) is a member of the faculty at the American Society of Diagnostic and Interventional Nephrology (ASDIN). Here, he examines the unique capabilities of the interventional nephrologist, and the...
A new study in Nature Communications has associated sugar with the development of the cysts that characterise polycystic kidney disease (PKD), with implications for how the condition should be treated. Co-lead authors Sienna Li and Ramila Gulieva (University of...
The recently introduced thulium fibre laser (TFL) does not improve the clinical outcomes of laser treatment for urinary stones compared to the standard for laser stone therapy, reports a randomised trial in the Journal of Urology, an official journal...
The use of peritoneal dialysis (PD) in treating chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients is limited in the USA by the mistaken assumptions of clinicians, in part a result of insufficient education by healthcare providers, claims a new study published...
The fourth annual Hamburg Dialysis Access Symposium (23–24 September, Hamburg, Germany) was recently organised and moderated by Robert Shahverdyan (Asklepios Clinic Barmbek, Hamburg, Germany), who also presented. He reports for Renal Interventions on the event, which also included a hands-on workshop...
The “overwhelming majority” of previously-rejected deceased donor kidneys that have later been used for transplantation have been found viable by a new study published in Transplantation. According to its authors, the results suggest that more consideration should be given...
Eight minutes of Mozart have been found to reduce the pain of cannulation for haemodialysis patients, though not their level of anxiety, in a recent study published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN). High...
 Ultrasound is a powerful tool for assessing haemodialysis (HD) access for maturity, but may also be used to guide HD access cannulations and has the potential to “actually change the process of care” according to Vandana Dua Niyyar (Emory...
Makana Therapeutics, a global leader in the field of xenotransplantation, was granted an important European patent that will catalyse xenotransplantation efforts abroad, the company announced today. Makana is working to solve the organ shortage crisis by making genetically modified...
Lydus Medical is pleased to announce that the Vesseal has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance. The Vesseal is a microvascular anastomosis suture deployment system, for standardised omnivessel anastomoses, enabling simple, fast, safe, and effective procedures. An...
Baxter International has announced a comprehensive strategic roadmap to meaningfully enhance its operational effectiveness, drive towards improved long-term performance, accelerate innovation and create additional value for all stakeholders. These changes include the plan to spin off the company’s Renal...
A study recently published in Kidney International Reports (KIR) has found that urinary peptidome (UP) analysis can help predict a patient’s risk of developing kidney failure. It also describes the “potential” for the process to “uncover new pathophysiological chronic...
liberDi announced today that it has received regulatory clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its digital dialysis clinic, which allows patients to perform dialysis at home or at the workplace, by themselves, monitored by their...
XORTX Therapeutics, a late-stage clinical pharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative therapies to treat progressive kidney disease, is pleased to announce the submission of a Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) patent application seeking international patent protection for the patent entitled...
Dirk M Hentschel (Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, USA), president of the Vascular Access Society of the Americas (VASA), has presented on the new Nephrodite Holly implantable device for continuous haemodialysis. Designed as an “implantable continuous dialysis hemofiltration device blending...
IceCure Medical, developer of the minimally-invasive ProSense System for cryoablation, which destroys tumours by freezing, today announced interim results from the ICESECRET study for the treatment of patients with small renal masses (SRM) who cannot be offered kidney-preserving surgery....
Aisha Shaikh (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre, New York, USA) has staked out a claim that, though hypotension is “associated” with arteriovenous access (AV) thrombosis, it should be far from the only consideration in choosing an access modality. She...
ReCor Medical and its parent company Otsuka Medical Devices have announced the appointment of Lara Barghout as president and chief executive officer of ReCor. Barghout will lead the ReCor business strategy and organisation in the global commercialisation of ReCor’s Paradise...
Renal failure surgeon Rajesh Sivaprakasam (Barts Health NHS Trust, London, UK) was among several clinicians and industry speakers who recently vaunted a variety of new technologies in the renal space at the Global Innovation and New Technology (GIANT) summit...
The first robotic day-case nephrectomy at the Royal Free Hospital has been performed by Ravi Barod (Royal Free Hospital, London, UK), marking progress in use of the technology for kidney procedures. It has previously been performed in the United...
Those already receiving treatment for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) with immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy can benefit from cytoreductive nephrectomy (CN) procedures, which increase overall survival (OS) rates. That is according to a recent Urologic Oncology-published investigation led...
A web-based decision aid can improve the quality of treatment decisions made by patients over 70 with chronic kidney disease (CKD)—that is the conclusion of a new study in the Annals of Internal Medicine (AIM). The Decision Aid for Renal...
VIETHsymposium (15–19 November, New York City, USA) has played host to a “mini-symposium” on the risk of steal syndrome and distal ischaemia posed by vascular access for haemodialysis. Moderated by John E Aruny (Dialysis Access Institute, Orangeburg, USA) and...
Patients with haematuria may be at increased risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD)—that’s the conclusion of a new study in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases (AJKD). Led by Seungho Ryu and Yoosoo Chang (Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine,...
 Raphaël Coscas (Paris, France) talks to Renal Interventions about the first results of the ABISS trial, comparing drug-coated balloon (DCB) with plain-balloon angioplasty for arteriovenous fistula stenosis, which he presented at the Paris Vascular Insights (PVI) conference (23–25 November,...
Patients likely to develop end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) may first exhibit ageing in the eye, a study in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases (AJKD) has suggested. Retinal age gap, a measure which comprises retina-predicted age minus the patient’s...
Medtronic has announced the first patient enrolled in the Expand URO US clinical trial for the Hugo robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) system. The robotic-assisted prostatectomy procedure was performed by Michael R Abern (Duke University Hospital, Durham, USA) at Duke University...
Haemodialysis has traditionally been conducted with dialysate of a temperature of 36.5°C, but the use of a personalised, lower-temperature dialysate is experiencing “rising popularity” with clinicians. Following the recent presentation at ASN Kidney Week by Amit Garg (Western University,...
Dmed's NephroFlow device is as effective for ultrasound dilution (UD) for vascular access (VA) as existing devices such as the Transonic VA flow measurement technology, according to a Spanish study comparing the two led by Jose L Merino (Hospital...
Corindus has been rebranded to Siemens Healthineers Endovascular Robotics and will sit as a dedicated business within the Advanced Therapies area of Siemens Healthineers, the company has announced. This brand unification is the final step of the company integration process...
VentureMed Group, a privately held medical device innovator in access management for arteriovenous (AV) fistulas and grafts and vessel preparation for interventional treatment of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) announced data presented at the VEITHsymposium, (15–19 November, New York, USA)....
Alio, a medical technology company involved in the management of chronic disease, announced it has raised US$18 million in the initial close of a Series C financing, bringing the total amount the company has raised to over US$50 million. This...
A range of issues in cannulation in arteriovenous fistulas (AVF) have been laid out by Deborah Brouwer-Maier (Transonic Systems, Ithaca, USA) at VEITHsymposium (15–19 November, New York City, USA). Her presentation compared surgical arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) with endovascular AVFs,...
Renalytix has announced the publication of new real-world evidence in Primary Care and Community Health demonstrating the company’s KidneyIntelX bioprognostic test resulted in changed clinical decision-making for patients in the early-stage of diabetic kidney disease (DKD) being cared for within the Mount Sinai...
Buddy Ratner (University of Washington, Seattle, USA) has given a presentation on the prospect of miniaturised haemodialysis for chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients at VEITHsymposium (15–19 November, New York City, USA). Beginning by assessing the recent history of haemodialysis,...
Europe’s health commissioner, Stella Kyriakides, has announced that proposals to extend the transition period for the implementation of the European Union’s (EU) Medical Device Regulation (MDR) will be put forward in early 2023.  Kyriakides informed health ministers from the EU’s...
Haemodialysis (HD) is traditionally implemented in four-hour sessions, three times a week. The efficiency of this approach has been questioned, however, by the authors of a new study published in Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation. Led by Emma Caton (School of...
Dori Schatell (Medical Education Institute, Madison, USA) spoke at the VEITH Symposium (15–19 November, New York City, USA) on the uses of plastic cannulas in vascular access, extolling the advantages brought by their flexibility. Conceding that they were not...
Data have been presented for the first time at the Paris Vascular Insights (PVI) conference (23–25 November, Paris, France) from the ABISS trial, which compared drug-coated balloon (DCB) with plain-balloon angioplasty for arteriovenous fistula (AVF) stenosis. ABISS was a physician-designed...
Despite not reducing rates of delayed graft function in kidneys from donation after circulatory death (DCD) donors, the novel organ storage technique of normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) has demonstrated the potential to improve renal function in DCD kidneys. These are...
Bayer has announced that Kerendia (finerenone, 10mg and 20mg), an oral, first-in-class non-steroidal, selective mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) antagonist, has been accepted for use within NHS Scotland by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) for the treatment of chronic kidney disease...
For patients with early-stage renal cell carcinomas (RCCs) that measure between 3 and 4cm, cryoablation yields a lower risk of cancer-related death compared to thermal ablation, reports a preliminary study in the Journal of Urology. "In contrast, for patients with...
The Swiss Federal Assembly has voted in favour of accepting medical devices with US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) marketing authorisation in Switzerland. A motion for ‘more freedom of action in the procurement of medical products for supply of the...
  Otsuka Medical Devices and ReCor Medical, a subsidiary of Otsuka, announce the filing of the pre-market approval (PMA) application to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the Paradise ultrasound renal denervation system (uRDN) system in the treatment of...

John Aruny

“If I had not been an interventional radiologist, I would have been a nephrologist.” John Aruny’s abiding interest in kidney disease treatment and a long career in interventional radiology (IR) have seen him assume leading roles in the field....
Compared with male patients, female patients have been found to have a higher risk of all-cause mortality in the first five years post-dialysis initiation—a difference driven by higher mortality from infections and dialysis withdrawals. These findings have been published...
Patient engagement, strong research collaborations, an open and inclusive canvas and year-round specialised education, will guide the multidisciplinary Vascular Access Society of Britain and Ireland (VASBI) in a new direction, says the team at the helm. Down the road,...
In light of recent shifts away from race-based algorithms in medicine—such as the adjustment for Black race in equations that estimate patients’ kidney function—new research published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN) has examined...
A cost-modelling analysis in real-world comparator groups has illustrated a potentially significant financial benefit across the UK healthcare system to using the VasQ external support device (Laminate Medical Technologies) for surgical arteriovenous fistula (AVF) creation as a standard of...
AstraZeneca has presented new data at the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Kidney Week 2022 (3–6 November, Orlando, USA) on the importance of earlier screening and diagnosis of chronic kidney disease (CKD). These findings were also simultaneously published in...

Renal Interventions 5 – US

Highlights: UK researchers alter blood type of deceased donor kidneys in “potentially game-changing” breakthrough, and other key clinical and regulatory updates from the renal transplantation space In-depth coverage of the Vascular Access Society of Britain and Ireland (VASBI) annual...

Renal Interventions 5 – EU

Highlights: UK researchers alter blood type of deceased donor kidneys in "potentially game-changing" breakthrough, and other key clinical and regulatory updates from the renal transplantation space In-depth coverage of the Vascular Access Society of Britain and Ireland (VASBI) annual...
The financial incentives offered by a recent US government programme for hospitals and clinicians to utilise home dialysis for end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) have not caused statistically significant changes in usage of the treatment. This is the conclusion of...
VentureMed Group has announced new data presentations on the treatment of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) with drug-coated balloon (DCBs) in addition to 12-month AV Registry Data. These presentations will be given as part of the VEITH Symposium Annual Scientific...
Percutaneous endovascular arteriovenous fistula (pAVF) procedures carry a lower risk of steal syndrome and wound infection than surgical arteriovenous fistula creation (sAVF), a new study has suggested. Published in the Journal of Vascular Surgery (JVS), the review of existing...
For some individuals with advanced kidney disease, dialysis may not be the optimal treatment strategy for their condition, and these patients may be better served with conservative non-dialytic management that focuses on quality-of-life and symptom control. Investigators recently examined...
Late-breaking data from multiple high-impact clinical trials were presented at the recent 2022 American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Kidney Week (3–6 November, Orlando, USA)—with renal transplant outcomes, hypertension in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients, and lower-temperature dialysate in haemodialysis...
This advertorial is sponsored by Xeltis. An de Vriese (Bruges, Belgium), who is playing a leading role in an ongoing European trial investigating the aXess vascular graft, discusses the study and the significant potential held by this technology in dialysis...
 Hands-on training for medical, rather than surgical, juniors took centrestage at the first UK Kidney Week (UKKW; 7– 9 June, Birmingham, UK) with stations on peritoneal dialysis, central venous catheter placement using a state-of-the-art simulator, a “home-made” chicken model...
Xeltis announced today the initiation of a pivotal trial with the “first-ever” restorative synthetic haemodialysis access grafts, dubbed ‘Axess’. The first two patients have been successfully implanted as part of the AXESS European pivotal trial at AZ Sint-Jan Brugge-Oostende AV...
ReCor Medical and its parent company, Otsuka Medical Devices, announced consistent and significant blood pressure-lowering results across a range of patients with uncontrolled hypertension, including across differences in age, sex, baseline blood pressure, medication level and ethnicity. The results...
Baxter International, a global innovator in kidney care, has advanced scientific exchange with 14 new data presentations about the role innovation plays in increasing access to and quality of home dialysis and expanded haemodialysis (HDx) care at American Society...
Medtronic has announced the six-month results from the full cohort of the SPYRAL HTN-ON MED clinical trial. The late-breaking data were presented at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2022 (5–7 November, Chicago, USA). With this news, Medtronic has...
Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies offer clinicians a variety of opportunities for taking earlier action on kidney problems. Several technologies allowing the prediction of renal issues were showcased recently at the 2022 American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Kidney Week (3-6...
The American Society of Nephrology (ASN) has announced that Michelle A. Josephson will become the society’s next president. Josephson, who succeeds Susan E. Quaggin, will assume her new role on 1 January 2023. A highly experienced physician and academic leader,...
Bluegrass Vascular Technologies has announced that, effective 1 January 2023, it will assume full responsibility for the sales and distribution of the Surfacer inside-out access catheter system. As the developer and manufacturer of the Surfacer system, as well as the...
A debate regarding the optimal place for vascular access creation and management to take place—specialised units or high-volume centres—saw Suresh Mathavakkannan (East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, Stevenage, UK) and David Kingsmore (Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Trust, Glasgow, UK) go...
An update from the first-in-human study assessing the Amplifi vein dilation system (Artio Medical) was delivered by Surendra Shenoy (Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, USA) during the first-ever late-breaking clinical trials session at this year’s Venous Endovascular...
The management of renal cancer patients featured prominently at this year’s Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiological Society of Europe (CIRSE) annual meeting (10–14 September, Barcelona, Spain), with discussions around patient selection and treatment planning preceding talks on the key therapeutic...
Transplant centres “should be aware” of the cognitive risks associated with post-kidney transplant delirium and should also implement available preventative interventions to reduce delirium risk. This is the concluding message of a study published recently in the American Journal...
Transit Scientific has announced that the XO RX 2.2Fr and XO RX 3.8Fr platform has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance to crack, break and dilate stenoses in peripheral arteries and arteriovenous dialysis fistula-associated lesions. "We have demonstrated...
Concerns regarding infectious complications should not affect the implementation of ABO-incompatible (ABOi) kidney transplant programmes, as per the findings from a nationwide, prospective cohort study conducted across Switzerland and published recently in the journal Transplantation. Researchers Cédric Hirzel (Inselspital, Bern,...
The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) has launched a new animated video series aimed at educating people on their chronic kidney disease (CKD) risk. ‘Kidney Numbers and the CKD Heat Map’ is a new initiative that conveys complex health information while targeting patients with...
A list of 10 key research priorities intended to help standardise vascular access research were delivered to attendees at this year’s Vascular Access Society of Britain and Ireland (VASBI) annual scientific meeting (29–30 September, Glasgow, UK). Presenter Jonathan de...
Cordis today announced its acquisition, subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory approvals, of MedAlliance. A press release notes that the agreement includes an initial investment of US$35 million and US$200 million payment upon closing in 2023, regulatory achievement...
A new guideline on the management of highly sensitised kidney transplant patients—those who have high levels of human leukocyte antigens (HLAs) and are therefore more likely to experience allograft rejection—has been published by a European Society for Organ Transplantation (ESOT)...
Surgeons at Universitaire Ziekenhuizen and AZ Universitair Ziekenhuis in Belgium have successfully performed the first kidney transplant procedures as part of a national contract with Organ Recovery Systems that designates the company as the exclusive provider of preservation services...
New findings, recently published in the Journal of Vascular Access (JVA), provide insight into the haemodialysis access profile of failed kidney transplant patients treated in the Catalonia region of Spain over an 18-year period. Researchers Ramon Roca-Tey (Hospital Universitari Mollet, Barcelona,...
Xeltis today announced what it describes as “very promising” preliminary efficacy and safety results from one of the centres participating in the AXESS study—a first-in-human (FIH) clinical trial of its restorative haemodialysis access graft, Axess. The company has also reported...
Researchers from Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) in Tokyo, Japan have found that a need for emergency dialysis during hospitalisation for surgery is strongly associated with functional decline and death after surgery. These findings have been published in...
VentureMed Group announced today that Ari Kramer (Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System, Spartanburg, USA) has treated the first patient with the Flex vessel prep system (75cm length), targeting arteriovenous access interventions, including “hard-to-reach” cephalic arch stenoses. "As a physician treating AV...
Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors can be used safely to help preserve graft function in diabetic kidney transplant recipients, as per the findings from a retrospective cohort study published in the journal Transplantation. The study’s authors, Jang-Hee Cho (Kyungpook National University,...
Members of the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) and 21 organisations representing the kidney community—patients and healthcare professionals alike—recently met with their corresponding members of the US Congress to call for the protection of living organ donors by advancing...
Earlier this year, in an interview with Renal Interventions, Scott Trerotola (Philadelphia, USA) remarked that “guidelines are a research workbook for the next generation”. With this statement in mind, Emma Aitken (Glasgow, UK) examines how the most recent update...
Dialyze Direct has welcomed the American Heart Association’s (AHA) recent scientific statement endorsing home dialysis therapies—including the more frequent haemodialysis (MFD) model of care—in its “Cardiovascular Effects of Home Dialysis Therapies” report. This report has been published in the...
A regional patient survey from the UK has revealed a 71% rate of good experiences with vascular access cannulation, and a “great appreciation” for the supporting efforts of nursing and access teams, but also that roughly 20% of respondents...
Hansa Biopharma recently announced a recommendation by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) for its “first-in-class” treatment Idefirix (imlifidase) in the desensitisation of highly sensitised adult patients prior to receiving a kidney transplant from a deceased donor. The SMC considers Idefirix to...
At this year’s EndoVascular Access (EVA; 24–25 June, Patras, Greece) meeting, the design and intentions of the EVA DROP study—which will seek to evaluate blood pressure changes associated with device-created arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) for haemodialysis—were presented by Georgia Georgopoulou (University...
Findings from the RADIANCE II randomised pivotal trial, presented at the 2022 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics meeting (TCT, 16–19 September, Boston, USA), “confirm that ultrasound renal denervation lowers blood pressure across the spectrum of hypertension”. RADIANCE II—results of which were described...
Stephen Hohmann (Texas Vascular Associates, Dallas, USA) recently sat down with Renal Interventions to discuss a number of key considerations along the dialysis journey, from listening to patients’ perspectives and managing their expectations, to access strategy planning, and the...
In an observational cohort study of Medicare beneficiaries receiving haemodialysis, the use of an arteriovenous graft (AVG) compared with an arteriovenous fistula (AVF) was associated with an increased risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and/or pulmonary embolism (PE). Conversely,...
Fluidx Medical has announced completion of trial enrolment for its GPX embolic device. In this multicentre trial, GPX was used to treat a variety of primary and metastatic tumours, renal adenoma tumours, and in a range of other arterial...
This advertorial, sponsored by BD, is only available in selected countries and geographies. “The Changing Face of a Dialysis Patient” was the central theme at BD’s EMEA ESKD Summit (17–18 May 2022, Madrid, Spain)—a meeting that championed patient-centric, multidisciplinary...
Vascular Therapies has announced that the first patient in the ACCESS 2 clinical trial was enrolled by Nikhil Kansal at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, USA. The Phase 3 prospective randomised ACCESS 2 study will enrol 120 patients from centres in the...
Fresenius Medical Care North America's (FMCNA) Renal Therapies Group recently announced the availability of Speedswap—a new option for the company’s NxStage System One with NxView that enables the changing of a flow-compromised dialysis filter without replacing the entire cartridge. As per an FMCNA press...
Researchers at the University of Cambridge (Cambridge, UK) have successfully altered the blood type of three deceased donor kidneys—a breakthrough that could have major implications for kidney patients in the future. The project, funded by Kidney Research UK, could increase...
Earlier this year, a retrospective study published in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases came to the conclusion that “frailty may be useful for informing clinical decision-making regarding choice of vascular access”—based on findings from the United States Renal...
Building upon “pioneering work” at University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) Medical Center (Dallas, USA), investigators recently reported the results of a clinical trial exploring the role of stereotactic ablative radiation therapy (SAbR) for patients with a handful of metastases, or so-called oligometastatic...
Natera has announced full enrolment for the RenaCARE (Renasight Clinical Application, Review and Evaluation) study—a real-world, prospective, multicentre trial to assess the clinical utility of Natera's Renasight genetic testing panel, which analyses more than 380 genes related to kidney disease....
Gore has announced the acquisition of InnAVasc Medical, a privately held medical technology company focused on advancing care for patients with end-stage renal disease who utilise graft circuits for dialysis treatment. Jeffrey Lawson and Shawn Gage from Duke University School...
ReCor Medical and Otsuka Medical Devices have announced that the RADIANCE II US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigational device exemption (IDE) pivotal trial evaluating the Paradise ultrasound renal denervation (uRDN) system as a treatment for hypertension met its...
The importance of assessing clinical trial data in an objective, balanced way has been borne out by recent history in the vascular surgery space, according to Ziv Haskal (University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA). This is particularly pertinent given the...
New research indicates that removing a race modifier from a formula used to diagnose kidney disease—estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)—could lead to more equitable care for Black patients. This study and a second examining how this same diagnostic approach...
Fresenius Medical Care North America's (FMCNA) Renal Therapies Group recently announced the availability of the CombiSet Smartech. According to a company press release, this is the first available single-use bloodline with an integrated Crit-Line blood chamber (CLiC) that simplifies...
Outset Medical has announced clearance by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of its previously disclosed 510(k) submission and resumption of Tablo haemodialysis system shipments for home use. The company also reported financial results for the second quarter ended...
“Catheters are not nearly as bad as we make them out to be.” This was one of the salient messages delivered by Theodore Saad (Nephrology Associates, Newark, USA) at the 2022 Vascular Access for Hemodialysis Symposium (9–11 June, Charleston,...
Physicians at Stanford Medicine (Stanford, USA) have developed a way to provide paediatric kidney transplants without immunosuppressant drugs. Their key innovation, according to a Stanford press release, is a safe method to transplant the donor’s immune system to the patient before...

Aisha Shaikh

Aisha Shaikh’s career in general and interventional nephrology has seen her assume leading roles in vascular access clinics, dialysis units and transplant centres alike, caring for a wide variety of kidney patients in different settings and locations across the...
Bluegrass Vascular Technologies today announced that Dan Beney has joined its executive team as vice president of sales. In this role, Beney will lead the expansion of the company’s sales efforts to drive the utilisation of the Surfacer inside-out...
Highlights: Patient perspectives regarding life on dialysis feature prominently following presentations at recent global conferences, while interviews with Theodore Saad (Newark, USA) and Stephen Hohmann (Dallas, USA) also centre around this theme In-depth coverage of the EndoVascular Access (EVA)...
Highlights: Patient perspectives regarding life on dialysis feature prominently following presentations at recent global conferences, while interviews with Theodore Saad (Newark, USA) and Stephen Hohmann (Dallas, USA) also centre around this theme In-depth coverage of the EndoVascular Access (EVA)...
Intraoperative ultrasonographic venous mapping is a useful tool to evaluate vessel suitability for arteriovenous fistula (AVF) creation, Yana Etkin (Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Lake Success, USA) concluded at this year’s Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) Vascular Annual Meeting...
From insights on living with different treatment modalities, to problems created by poor physician-patient communication and long-term psychological challenges, kidney care physicians heard a range of perspectives from dialysis patients during two recent conferences—the Vascular Access for Hemodialysis Symposium...
A study presented at this year’s American Transplant Congress (ATC; 4–8 June, Boston, USA) found that machine learning (ML) technologies did not outperform traditional statistical models in predicting long-term kidney allograft outcomes—attaining similar prediction performances overall. These findings were...
As highlighted by previous studies, as well as the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) national report on renal medicine and data from the UK Renal Registry (UKRR), there is considerable variation in home dialysis uptake across the UK...
Lively discussion on unmet needs and building on quiet developments in vascular access from leading surgeons, interventional radiologists, nephrologists and interventional nephrologists formed the backbone of the recent EndoVascular Access (EVA; 24–25 June, Patras, Greece) meeting’s programme. Practice patterns and...
Acute kidney injury (AKI) risks have been significantly reduced by healthcare professionals at County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust in the UK with the help of a new care model, supported by specialist nurses, and developed in partnership...
At this year’s EndoVascular Access meeting (EVA; 24–25 June, Patras, Greece), Michael Aragon—nephrologist and chief medical officer of Outset Medical—outlined existing benefits and barriers to home haemodialysis (HHD). “If we really want to look at how we are going to...
 Monnie Wasse, past-president of the American Society of Diagnostic and Interventional Nephrology (ASDIN) and director of interventional nephrology at Rush University Medical Centre (Chicago, USA), talks to the next generation about the Nephrology Partnership for Advancing Technology in Healthcare...
At the recent EndoVascular Access meeting (EVA; 24–25 June, Patras, Greece), and UK Kidney Week (UKKW; 7–9 June, Birmingham, UK), renal healthcare professionals had the opportunity to experience bespoke modules and didactic learning on kidney biopsy, ultrasound use for...
Quanta Dialysis Technologies has received the 2022 MacRobert Award in recognition of its efforts to develop the SC+ system—a portable, easy-to-use, high-performance dialysis machine intended to allow greater flexibility across the care continuum. The team behind this compact dialysis machine,...
SoniVie today announced that on 30 May this year the first patient was treated with its renal artery denervation Tivus therapeutic intravascular ultrasound technology, as part of the recently US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigational device exemption (IDE)-approved REDUCED1...
 Nicholas Inston (Birmingham, UK) talks to Maurizio Gallieni (Milan, Italy) at EVA 2022 (24–25 June, Patras, Greece) about N-PATH—a European Union Erasmus+ Knowledge Alliance funded project that involves eight universities, the European Renal Association, and the Vascular Access Society...
Current inequalities in kidney disease outcomes represent a “profound concern” for the UK and must be addressed moving forward, according to UK Kidney Association (UKKA) president Paul Cockwell (Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, UK). Speaking to Renal Interventions at this...
Access Vascular, Inc. (AVI) has shared initial findings from a retrospective review of patient records according to a press release. These demonstrate an increase in dwell times compared to other commercially available devices and no complications when using AVI’s...
 James Medcalf (Leicester, UK), UK Renal Registry medical director, tells Renal Interventions at UK Kidney Week (UKKW 2022; 7–9 June, Birmingham, UK), “This year for the first time, we had a levelling off of a number of new people...
 Robert Jones (Birmingham, UK), interventional radiologist and president of the Vascular Access Society of Britain and Ireland (VASBI), tells Renal Interventions at the Endovascular Access meeting (EVA; 24–25 June, Patras, Greece) that there are still significant untapped areas for...
Merit Medical has announced the successful enrolment of the first patient in its WRAP registry study in a press release. This study will evaluate the clinical benefits associated with the use of the Wrapsody cell-impermeable endoprosthesis in patients receiving...
A prospective, multicentre study involving the Covera vascular covered stent (BD) has confirmed the benefits of immediate, post-percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) placement of the device in treating arteriovenous graft (AVG) venous anastomotic stenosis when anatomically and clinically suitable. Writing...
Alio and the Hargan Group are to host a webinar “Bending the cost curve in end-stage kidney disease”, covering topics including challenges facing the end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) population and future innovation in kidney health. The webinar will take place...
The risk of major complications for people who donate a kidney via laparoscopic surgery is minimal. That is the conclusion of a 20-year Mayo Clinic (Rochester, USA) study of more than 3,000 living kidney donors, which has been published...
Talaris Therapeutics today provided a clinical update on its ongoing phase 3 FREEDOM-1 study of FCR001—the company's investigational allogeneic cell therapy designed to induce immune tolerance to a kidney graft in living donor kidney transplant recipients. To date, Talaris...
Transit Scientific had shared via press release successful outcomes on multiple fistula and graft cases using its XO Score sheath platform, a first-of-its-kind metal-alloy scoring, cutting, and constraining structure (CS) device, along with off-the-shelf percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) balloons. XO...
Attendees at this year’s UK Kidney Week (UKKW; 7–9 June, Birmingham, UK) heard that—based on a recent, single-centre study—peritoneal dialysis (PD) appears to be a safe and effective modality choice for patients following the loss of their kidney graft....
Scott Trerotola (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA), who is set to be awarded a Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) Gold Medal in June 2022, sits down with Renal Interventions to share his views on the 2019 update to the...
Funder-provider engagement and patient education are vital in growing home dialysis uptake across an entire region or country. Financial incentives or performance targets are among key options for achieving the former—while the assessment of all end-stage kidney disease (ESKD)...
Bluegrass Vascular Technologies recently announced the publication of a paper featured on the cover of the June 2022 issue of the Journal of Vascular Surgery (JVS). The paper reports the use of the company’s Surfacer system to perform an ‘Inside-Out’ procedure and obtain...
A Laminate Medical Technologies press release reports that the US VasQ external support comparative study results were presented this month for the first time globally at the 2022 Vascular Access for Hemodialysis Symposium (VASA; 9–11 June, Charleston, USA). The study...
At this year’s Vascular Access for Hemodialysis Symposium (9–11 June, Charleston, USA), Alexander Toledo (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA) asserted the advantages of selectively ligating a patient’s arteriovenous fistula (AVF) following a successful kidney transplant—citing long-term medical,...
SoniVie recently announced that on 5 May 2022 the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted investigational device exemption (IDE) approval for its REDUCED1 pilot study to treat resistant hypertension patients with renal artery denervation using the company's therapeutic...
In a retrospective cohort study published in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases (AJKD), researchers have found that US adults receiving haemodialysis who are exposed to higher levels of air pollution have more heart attacks and strokes compared to haemodialysis...
It is critical that clinicians follow—or, at the very least, are aware of—their centre’s policies regarding cannulation practices. This message was delivered by Deborah Brouwer-Maier (Transonic Systems, Ithaca, USA) during a presentation at the 2022 Vascular Access for Hemodialysis...
AlloVir has announced preliminary, blinded data from an ongoing Phase 2 study of posoleucel—an investigational, allogeneic, off-the-shelf, multi-virus-specific T cell (VST) therapy for the treatment of BK viraemia in adult kidney transplant recipients. These data from the largest study...
CareDx recently announced that it plans to expand its growing multimodality portfolio with AiKidney—a new clinical decision support tool for allograft risk assessment that is in development, and includes the company’s AlloSure testing tool and other transplant metrics. This follows...
Hansa Biopharma has announced a recommendation by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for its first-in-class treatment Idefirix (imlifidase) in the desensitisation of highly sensitised adult patients prior to receiving a kidney transplant from a deceased...
Artio Medical today announced the closing of US$28 million in oversubscribed Series A2 and Series A3 financing, bringing the total amount raised by the company to date to US$74 million. Funds will be used to support US commercialisation efforts for the recently cleared...
New data presented at the 2022 Vascular Access for Hemodialysis Symposium (9–11 June, Charleston, USA) have demonstrated favourable outcomes with the Flex Vessel Prep system as compared to historical data, and “really impressive” results in the cephalic arch and...

Matteo Tozzi

Having grown up and studied medicine in Rome, Matteo Tozzi is currently deputy head of the Department of Medicine and Surgery, and associate professor of vascular surgery, at the University of Insubria in Varese, Italy. His work within the...
A research team led by Kazumi Taguchi, Shuzo Hamamoto and Takahiro Yasui (Nagoya City University , Nagoya, Japan) recently undertook a clinical trial to assess whether an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered device called the Automated Needle Targeting with X-ray (ANT-X)...
B. Braun Avitum has become the exclusive UK distributor for Physidia, a France-based manufacturer of a dedicated home dialysis machine, in a move that the company says should help improve the quality of life and independence of many more...
Outset Medical today announced it has implemented a shipment hold on the distribution of its Tablo haemodialysis system for home use pending the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) review and clearance of a 510(k) the company submitted for...
While a fourth vaccine dose does increase anti-spike immunoglobin-G (IgG) and neutralising capacity against many COVID-19 variants of concern (VOCs), some solid-organ transplant recipients may remain at a high risk for Omicron infection despite receiving vaccine boosters. This is...
Jeremy Crane (London, UK) discusses the topic of vein preservation—including its central importance to successful dialysis access creation, and practical measures for achieving it in clinical practice. The presence of patent peripheral key veins in the arm is an obvious...
Based on over four years of experience in a single centre, Robert Shahverdyan (Asklepios Klinik Barmbek, Hamburg, Germany) claims that endovascular arteriovenous fistula (endoAVF) creation “keeps future options open,” but is not a replacement for surgical fistula creation. Speaking at...
Natera today announced the presentation of data on the clinical utility of its Prospera and Renasight tests across a total of 14 sessions at the 2022 American Transplant Congress (ATC; 4–8 June, Boston, USA). This expands on 13 peer-reviewed...
With comprehensive UK Renal Registry (UKRR) data from 2020 set to be published by the UK Kidney Association (UKKA) imminently, Renal Interventions previews a handful of key talking points these figures will likely trigger. One immediate observation from the 2022...
This advertorial is sponsored by Vascular Therapies Arteriovenous fistula (AVF) maturation is a pivotal event in patients requiring haemodialysis. Maximising the number of fistulas that mature, become suitable for initial clinical use and remain suitable for sustained clinical use continues...
Highlights: Multiple new data from the Charing Cross (CX) Symposium on drug-coated balloons (DCBs) and their application in vascular access Scott Trerotola (Philadelphia, USA) discusses his thoughts on the most recent Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (KDOQI) guideline update ...
Highlights: Multiple new data from the Charing Cross (CX) Symposium on drug-coated balloons (DCBs) and their application in vascular access Scott Trerotola (Philadelphia, USA) discusses his thoughts on the most recent Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (KDOQI) guideline update ...
MedAlliance’s Selution SLR drug-eluting balloon (DEB) has received investigational device exemption (IDE) approval from the US Food and Drug Administration, making it the first limus DEB to be available to US patients, the company announced in a press release. The...
Sonavex has announced that it has received a US$1.7 million grant from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) to further develop EchoGuide—a novel technology which is designed to reduce cannulation injury. The grant provides capital for ongoing research and...
Medtronic and DaVita have together announced their intent to form a new, independent kidney care-focused medical device company in an effort to enhance the patient treatment experience and improve overall outcomes. According to a joint press release, the new company will...
Hologic has received the European CE mark for two new molecular assays—Panther Fusion EBV Quant Assay and Panther Fusion BKV Quant Assay—expanding its transplant pathogen monitoring menu on the Panther Fusion system. The assays quantify the viral load of the...
VentureMed Group recently announced that it has completed enrolment of a randomised controlled trial (RCT) titled 'Flex Vessel Prep prior to PTA for the treatment of obstructive lesions in the native AVF'. This RCT was conducted to assess primary...
Sanjay Misra (Rochester, USA) discusses the need for pharmacological approaches that can improve successful, long-term outcomes with arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) and outlines a handful of novel solutions on the horizon. In 2017, about 750,000 US patients were diagnosed with end-stage...
Three late-breaking clinical trials presented at the 59th European Renal Association (ERA) congress (19–22 May, Paris, France) have placed increased focus on the need to quickly detect and treat chronic kidney disease (CKD). Annette Bruchfeld (Karolinska Institute, Solna, Sweden), who...
X-Therma has announced that the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted its proprietary XT-ViVo organ preservation solution and TimeSeal organ transport device Breakthrough Device status. “This milestone moves us as a...
Late-breaking trial data presented at EuroPCR 2022 (17–20 May, Paris, France) underscore the potential of renal denervation as an adjunctive therapy to treat hypertension, complementing existing first-line treatments including lifestyle modifications and medication, attendees of the conference heard. Day one...
Germany-based endovascular simulator supplier CATHI has joined forces with UK-based Vascular Simulation Solutions (VSS) to offer the world’s first online training masterclass using endovascular simulation coupled to a structured curriculum, the company said in a press release. At its...
The results of a small-scale pilot study from Asia have indicated “potentially disappointing” results with a novel drug-eluting balloon in treating dysfunctional arteriovenous access for dialysis. These findings were delivered by Tjun Tang (Singapore General Hospital, Singapore)—who also highlighted...
Invizius recently announced that it has been awarded a second Biomedical Catalyst grant (Feasibility and Primer Award) by Innovate UK to research a new field of application—peritoneal dialysis (PD)—for its H-Guard technology. The company is developing a H-Guard haemodialysis priming...
NOTE: This video is ONLY available to watch in selected countries and geographies In a late-breaking Podium 1st presentation at the 2022 Charing Cross (CX) International Symposium (26–28 April, London, UK), Andrew Holden (Auckland, New Zealand) revealed that patients...
In recognition of the fact that “too many” people in Canada are on organ waitlists, with Canada also lagging behind other high-performing countries in organ donation, the Canadian government has invested CA$2 million into two innovative organ and tissue...
Dialyze Direct has announced that its findings regarding the effect of more frequent dialysis for end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) patients in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) have been peer-reviewed by Hemodialysis International and published in an article entitled “Post-Dialysis Recovery Time in...
Relavo has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant worth US$1 million, which will be used to complete development and conduct safety, efficacy, and usability testing on the PeritoneX disinfection system. The PeritoneX is...
Kate Steiner (Stevenage, UK) discusses existing clinical evidence on drug-coated balloons (DCBs) in the treatment of arteriovenous access stenosis—and outlines areas where further data are still needed on how they stack up against more traditional plain-balloon techniques. Failure of maturation...
Medtronic has announced new randomised controlled data demonstrating the sustained and superior performance of the IN.PACT AV drug-coated balloon (DCB) compared to percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) through 36 months, with no difference in mortality. The data were delivered as...
The preliminary results from a clinical trial assessing a restorative haemodialysis access graft have shown promising early puncturing, patency and safety data. These findings from an ongoing first-in-human study of the Axess graft (Xeltis) are being presented for the...
Medtronic has announced that Laura Mauri has been appointed as the company’s chief scientific, medical and regulatory officer. This appointment adds to Mauri's prior responsibilities as chief clinical and regulatory officer, aligning and integrating the company's scientific, medical, clinical research...
This advertorial is sponsored by Alio Medical Owing to the various risk factors and potential complications faced by kidney disease patients undergoing dialysis treatment, new technologies that enable these patients to be monitored remotely and continuously—and ultimately managed more effectively—are...
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has awarded 510(k) clearance to Fresenius Medical Care North America (FMCNA) for its Versi peritoneal dialysis (PD) cycler system—a next-generation, portable automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) system. Fresenius claims that Versi PD is “the...
A federal partnership established to help increase access to COVID-19 vaccines for end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) patients receiving dialysis was successful in reducing racial disparities in vaccination coverage, new research published in JAMA Internal Medicine has affirmed. Compared to white patients,...
Alio has announced it has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance for its remote monitoring system, which is intended for use by healthcare professionals to intermittently collect physiological data—including skin temperature, auscultation sound data and heart...
Fresenius Medical Care announced today that its Global Medical Office has launched the My Reason campaign to promote patient enrolment in the company's kidney-focused genomics registry, which was first introduced last year. With the “ambitious goal” of enrolling more than 100,000 participants within five...
Outset Medical has announced the release of three new data sets related to home dialysis—each of which are being presented during the ongoing National Kidney Foundation (NKF) spring clinical meetings (6–10 April 2022; Boston, USA). The results from scientific...
Baxter International has announced US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance of the company’s ST Set, intended for use in continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT). The ST Set is a pre-connected, disposable, extracorporeal circuit that provides blood purification...
Sangamo Therapeutics has announced dosing of the first patient in the Phase 1/2 STEADFAST clinical study evaluating TX200—an investigational, wholly owned, autologous chimeric antigen receptor regulatory T cell (CAR-Treg) cell therapy product candidate for the prevention of immune-mediated rejection...
Long-term data from the first 80 patients in the SPYRAL HTN-ON MED trial have been presented during a featured clinical research session at the American College of Cardiology’s annual scientific sessions (ACC 2022, 2–4 April, Washington DC, USA). The data,...
A retrospective analysis of the US Renal Data System has found that, in patients undergoing haemodialysis treatment, a higher degree of frailty is associated with an increased timeframe for a vascular access to become functional. As such, writing in...
Nipro Medical Corporation is set to introduce its second-generation Cronus high-pressure (HP) percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) balloon catheter to the US market. Cronus HP is indicated for use in popliteal, femoral, iliac, and renal arteries, and in the treatment of...
Medtronic recently voluntarily recalled a subset of its IN.PACT Admiral and IN.PACT AV paclitaxel-coated percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) balloon catheters due to the potential for pouch damage resulting in a loss of sterility. This is according to a news...
A departure from the “extreme mantra” of Fistula First unlocks the door to a new, dynamic vision that could swing the pendulum back to increased arteriovenous graft (AVG) use. But, this hinges on shared decision-making with patients and sight...
The arteriovenous graft (AVG) for use as a dialysis conduit is a story of innovation, disappointment, intrigue, politics and hope. A recent recalibration of guidelines from “fistula first” to the “right access” may see these easy-to-use, off-the-shelf devices move...
Robotic urologic oncology surgeon Dipen J Parekh (University of Miami Health System, Miami, USA) has become the first in the USA to test a new, preoperative surgical rehearsal technology recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)...
Nipro Medical Corporation has announced the commercial launch of its Surdial Dx haemodialysis system—designed to create an optimal dialysis treatment experience for patients and clinicians—in the USA. Manufactured in Japan, the system draws from more than 35 years of expertise in...
Vascular Therapies today announced the closing of US$25 million in private financing. The financing in question comprised of both existing and new investors, including a Fortune 100 global healthcare company. Vascular Therapies plans to use the proceeds to further advance...
Investigators have completed enrolment in the RADIANCE-II pivotal trial of the Paradise ultrasound renal denervation (uRDN, Recor Medical) system for the treatment of uncontrolled hypertension. Subject to study outcomes, the RADIANCE-II results will be combined with the previously released data...
Kidney failure patients who wish to receive the choice of home dialysis face an unequal struggle across the UK to access such care, according to the Bridging the Gap report, which was released today by Quanta Dialysis Technologies. The...
Malignant ureteric obstruction (MUO) poses several tangible threats to cancer patients—and these threats translate, in turn, to challenges for the interventional radiologist and other treating physicians. Here, Conrad von Stempel and Tim Fotheringham (London, UK) describe a number of alternative techniques...
Data analysis from a recent clinical trial has indicated that removing a race-based adjustment in the estimation of patients’ kidney function had a small but potentially important impact on the inclusion of participants—with differing effects on Black and non-Black...
Ascend Clinical claims to have become the first customer to leverage an artificial intelligence (AI) solution with deep learning models—provided by SambaNova Systems and DeLorean AI—in an attempt to advance kidney care by classifying, tracking and transitioning renal patients...
NephroSant has today announced enrolment of the first patient in its AQUA (Assessment of QSant for underlying allograft rejection) study. Eligible participants will have undergone kidney transplantation within 90 days of enrolment—with up to 2,000 individuals being enrolled and...
As dialysis modalities go, peritoneal dialysis (PD) is currently among the more popular choices in treating kidney disease patients. For many physicians, its perceived benefits—a decreased burden on the patient and their day-to-day living arguably being the most important...
Xeltis has announced promising initial outcomes from two key vascular trials involving its restorative graft technologies. According to the company, more than 350 successful dialysis sessions have been completed in implanted patients within six months from the start of a...
Lyfebulb and CVS Kidney Care have announced 10 finalists for the 2022 Innovation Challenge: Accelerating Innovations in Kidney Disease to Improve Health Equity and Outcomes. The finalists brought forward an array of strategic, creative and scalable concepts to make kidney...
Fist Assist Devices has announced a three-year affiliation with Regional Health Care Group to commercialise and launch sales of the Fist Assist Model FA-1 device in Australia and New Zealand. The FA-1 device is a wearable, patent-protected, intermittent compression...
A retrospective review involving nearly 300 patients has concluded that precision banding as a treatment for high-flow haemodialysis accesses offers “an effective, low-morbidity approach”. The findings of the review are published in the Journal of Vascular Access (JVA). “This...
The VasQ external support device (Laminate Medical) has demonstrated long-term benefits for radiocephalic (forearm) arteriovenous fistula (AVF) creation in a retrospective analysis of 150 consecutive procedures. Robert Shahverdyan (Asklepios Klinik Barmbek, Hamburg, Germany) and Dirk Hentschel (Brigham and Women’s...
Research by the University of Leicester (Leicester, UK) into chronic kidney disease has received a major boost on World Kidney Day (10 March 2022) following a £1 million donation from long-term supporter and kidney health advocate Jimmy Mayer. This vital funding...
NephroSant has announced that the Journal of Clinical Medicine has published real-world data that provides insight into how changes in allograft health are reflected in specific ranges of QSant scores. QSant is a non-invasive home collection that analyses biomarkers of...

Charmaine Lok

Equally at home on the ward seeing patients, at study sites conducting research, and travelling the world for voluntary medical missions, Charmaine Lok has engaged in all aspects of the modern medical profession. Lok is a nephrologist and clinician...
Diality has announced the close of a US$24 million Series B2 investment round. The Series B2 round of funding will be used for activities to support US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance of the company’s versatile haemodialysis system—including preparing...
The concept of dedicated vascular access centres fuels a turbocharged Texan tussle with Karl Illig (Flow Vascular Center, Houston, USA) taking on Eric Peden (Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, USA) in a no-holds-barred debate on how best to deliver longitudinal...
The second edition of Renal Interventions homes in on multiple key issues currently rousing the kidney disease management community, including: The promise offered by recent xenotransplantation procedures in tackling global donor organ shortages An in-depth look at the evolving...
The second edition of Renal Interventions homes in on multiple key issues currently rousing the kidney disease management community, including: The promise offered by recent xenotransplantation procedures in tackling global donor organ shortages An in-depth look at the evolving...
Baxter International has announced new data indicating the use of its Sharesource remote patient management platform with an automated peritoneal dialysis cycler may improve the clinical effectiveness of dialysis care for kidney patients by extending their time on home therapies by...
Dialysis patients who received an adenovirus vector-based COVID-19 vaccine (Johnson & Johnson) were found to have similar rates of breakthrough infection, hospitalisation and mortality as dialysis patients who received an mRNA-based vaccine (Pfizer/BioNTech), according to a DaVita Clinical Research...
Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers have developed and tested a new imaging approach they say will accelerate imaging-based research in the lab by allowing investigators to capture images of blood vessels at different spatial scales. Tested in mouse tissues, the method,...
SyMap Medical has announced that it has completed enrolment of the SMART study, which will evaluate the safety and efficacy of targeted renal denervation (RDN) using the SyMapCath I system for the treatment of uncontrolled hypertension. According to SyMap, this...
Cibiltech has announced that the first patient has been enrolled in the CIBIL (Clinical impact of the iBox as an early intervention tool) study, a prospective randomised controlled trial to assess the use of a software predicting allograft survival...
The interim results of an ongoing clinical study of PatenSee's contactless imaging device for the early detection of vascular access stenosis in dialysis patients were recently shared in a poster presentation at the World Congress of Nephrology (WCN'22; 24–27...
Humacyte today announced that five-year data from a phase 2 clinical trial of patients receiving the investigational Human Acellular Vessel (HAV) for arteriovenous (AV) access in haemodialysis have been published in the European Journal of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery companion...
Charing Cross (CX) chair Roger Greenhalgh welcomes the vascular community to this year's symposium, due to be held 26–28 April in London, UK, and virtually. To read the preliminary programme and register visit cxsymposium.com.
Bio-Techne has announced an agreement with Thermo Fisher Scientific to exclusively complete the development of and commercialise the ExoTRU kidney transplant rejection test developed by Exosome Diagnostics, a Bio-Techne brand, a press release claims. ExoTRU is a non-invasive, multigene, urine-based...
As per a clinical study involving more than 2,300 adult patients, a second kidney transplant is likely to offer improved survival outcomes when compared to shifting over to dialysis treatment in people whose first kidney graft has stopped functioning...
A multicentre experience with the 4 French (4Fr) WavelinQ endoAVF system (BD) has found that the device is safe and effective, bolstering existing evidence that it could offer an alternative option to surgically created arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) in the...
Natera has announced the results of a large clinical experience study confirming the "strong performance" of its Prospera donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA) test in assessing rejection for kidney transplant patients. The study, published in Transplantation Proceedings, reports the real-world impact of dd-cfDNA...
Transplantation discrepancies between Black and white patients have been found to contribute significantly to differing survival rates for childhood-onset kidney failure across the two racial groups. Reporting these findings in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN),...
DaVita Kidney Care has announced the appointment of Mihran Naljayan—a clinical associate professor at LSU School of Medicine (New Orleans, USA) who is board-certified in nephrology and hypertension through the American Board of Internal Medicine—as its new chief medical officer...
In light of recent and upcoming developments in the space, Vinson Wai-Shun Chan and Tze Min Wah (Leeds, UK) explore the evidence and latest progress in renal tumour biopsy (RTB), and discuss the treatment of small renal masses (SRMs)...
CloudCath announced today it has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for the CloudCath system—which the company claims is the world's first data-driven, cloud-based, remote monitoring platform for peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. The company is planning a...
Far infrared radiation (FIR) has demonstrated no haemodynamic changes in the arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) of haemodialysis patients, despite prior contradicting research. This is the key finding of a study published in the Journal of Vascular Access by Emilie K...
Screening protocols to determine who qualifies for ‘compassionate dialysis’ in hospitals with high numbers of uninsured patients are contributing to increased strain on the emergency room (ER), as measured by how long ER patients are waiting to be seen...
Trestle Biotherapeutics has entered into a license agreement with Harvard University (Cambridge, USA). Under the agreement, Trestle will commercialise a suite of stem cell- and 3D biofabrication-based regenerative medicine technologies developed at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering,...
Fresenius Medical Care North America (FMCNA) has become the latest company to announce partnerships with nephrology providers via the new Kidney Care Choices (KCC) models—first announced by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in 2019, and formally...
Arteriovenous fistula (AVF) access is one of the key areas that is set to receive a boost following MedAlliance’s acquisition of its partner MDK Medical—according to a company press release. MDK Medical has previously worked closely with MedAlliance in...
A systematic review published in the Journal of Vascular Access (JVA) has illuminated haemodialysis patients’ views and experiences of arteriovenous access cannulation, concluding that many patients learn to tolerate its unpleasantness out of a sense of necessity, with feelings...
Peer-reviewed research outlining the successful transplant of genetically modified, clinical-grade pig kidneys into a brain-dead human individual has been published in the American Journal of Transplantation. This publication was recently announced by the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Marnix E...
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued two final guidances providing recommendations for including patient perspectives in medical device clinical studies.   As per an FDA press release, the finalised version of the first of these two guidance...
Fresenius Medical Care North America (FMCNA) has announced that its KidneyCare:365 chronic kidney disease (CKD) health programme has been awarded Population Health Program (PHP) accreditation by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). According to a company press release, KidneyCare:365...
As per an announcement on the company’s LinkedIn page, InnAVasc Medical has been granted US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) permission to commence the third phase of enrolment for its pivotal clinical study. “This is a big step forward to...
Concept Medical has shared the latest update from its IMPRESSION (Sirolimus-coated balloon angioplasty versus plain balloon angioplasty in the treatment of dialysis access dysfunction) randomised controlled trial (RCT), as it crosses the 50% enrolment mark. The IMPRESSION trial enrolled its...
NextKidney BV has announced the acquisition of Dialyss Pte Limited from 1 January 2022. According to a press release, this marks a major milestone towards the commercialisation of the first truly portable, sorbent-based haemodialysis device, the Neokidney—which the company...
Fluidx Medical has announced in a press release that its GPX embolic device was used to effectively devascularise a large renal tumour with multiple feeding vessels as part of a multicentre clinical trial. "This could have been a challenging case...
DaVita has announced the acquisition of transplant software company MedSleuth, which works with US transplant centres to improve experiences and outcomes for kidney and liver transplant patients. With this acquisition, DaVita is deepening its efforts to fuel transplant innovation, underscoring...
Pathfinder Medical, which has developed a proprietary technology to guide and accurately align catheters in endovascular procedures allowing clinicians to make connections across blood vessels in the body without the need for open surgery, has announced securing £8.5 million. The...
Cancer, infections and heart disease pose the greatest risk to kidney transplant recipients—not organ rejection—according to a recently published Mayo Clinic study. Researchers discovered that recipient death due to factors other than organ rejection is the leading cause for...
Anais Medical, a new company founded by Parc Taulí Research and Innovation Institute (I3PT) and led by José Ibeas (nephrologist at Parc Taulí University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain), intends to develop practical educational material that uses realistic models and simulations,...
There are some very serious risks associated with forgotten ureteric JJ stents. David Maudgil, a consultant interventional radiologist at Wexham Park Hospital, Frimley Health Foundation Trust (Slough, UK), outlines why and when these devices are used, explains the risks...
Fresenius Kidney Care and Biim Ultrasound AS have announced an agreement to expand use of Biim's innovative ultrasound system for assisting needle cannulation prior to dialysis treatment. Fresenius successfully piloted the use of Biim's ultrasound system at more than two dozen dialysis...
The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) has announced the recipients of two of its most prestigious awards in the field of nephrology, with Bernard Jaar, a practising nephrologist at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, USA, and Cheyenne Fasce, a...
Attempts to optimise the current state of play in vascular access for dialysis patients—from deployment of drug-coated balloons (DCBs) to more novel vein dilation technologies—piqued the interest of Renal Interventions readers throughout 2021. An in-depth interview with pioneering vascular...
Home haemodialysis provider Dialyze Direct has announced the acquisition of Renew Dialysis, a regional provider of on-site dialysis services in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), with eight locations in Ohio and one in Virginia, that was co-founded by Saber Healthcare...
The Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) national report on renal medicine represents a “call to action” for the UK renal community, and provides greater focus in driving quality improvement across care pathways for kidney disease. These were among...
Kidney transplant recipients tend to mount impaired antibody responses against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants after standard two-dose COVID-19 vaccination, according to a study published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN). The research shows this is also...
Hansa Biopharma recently announced that the first patient has been enrolled in its CONFIDES trial—a US pivotal, open-label, randomised controlled study—at the Columbia University Medical Center (New York, USA). The CONFIDES trial is evaluating the drug imlifidase as a potential desensitisation...
Fresenius Medical Care has announced the launch of Carrie, a custom-built mobile application intended to connect, inform and support Fresenius Kidney Care nurses and clinical teams in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. Named ‘Carrie’ in recognition of the “limitless...
Zynex Monitoring Solutions recently reported it has started enrolment in a haemodialysis clinical trial with its CM-1500 fluid monitoring system. The study, conducted at DaVita Clinical Research clinics, is aimed at further characterising changes in the device's patented Relative...
Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB; Birmingham, USA) and US firm Endomimetics are working to develop a long-sought-after, effective therapy that will promote healthy maturation in arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs)—and recently reported preclinical progress on this front...
Xeltis has announced initiation of a clinical trial evaluating Axess, which it claims is the first ever restorative synthetic haemodialysis access graft. Several patients with kidney failure or advanced kidney disease requiring dialysis have already been successfully implanted as...
A single-centre, retrospective, comparative study, which was presented at the July 2021 Journal of Vascular Surgery (JVS) Journal Club (14 July, online), has found that percutaneous arteriovenous fistula (pAVF) creation may be associated with lower rates of complication relating...
Fist Assist Devices has announced that it recently received Breakthrough Device designation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Fist Assist Model FA-1 device. According to the company, the FA-1 is the world’s first wearable device for...
Arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) are widely considered to be the holy grail in dialysis access, providing a more long-term solution than synthetic arteriovenous grafts (AVGs) or central venous catheters (CVCs), with a reduced risk of complications. However, these benefits only...
DaVita has recently become the first kidney care provider to completely power its North American operations with renewable energy, according to a press release from the company. DaVita achieved this goal, which it set in 2019, by contracting with Longroad...
Video-based telemedicine is used to facilitate care across all stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and has evolved in recent years to be less reliant on specialised equipment, allowing patients to receive kidney care in a location of their...
 Nicholas Inston (consultant vascular access and renal transplant surgeon, Birmingham, UK) discusses the crucial care interventional radiologists provide for renal patients with Ian Mcafferty (consultant interventional radiologist, Birmingham, UK, and immediate past president of the British Society of Interventional...
 Nicholas Inston (Birmingham, UK) talks to CX about the challenges in creation, maintenance and salvage of vascular access in patients with end stage renal disease. Inston highlights the many innovations and technologies that have come to the forefront in recent...
 Alexandros Mallios (Paris, France) and Robert Shahverdyan (Hamburg, Germany) talk to Vascular News about some of the benefits of the Ellipsys™ Vascular Access System (Medtronic), how it compares to more traditional fistula creation techniques, and the key steps for...
Cleaning and low-level disinfection (LLD) effective against bloodborne pathogens are safe and sufficient procedures for disinfecting ultrasound transducers used in percutaneous procedures—this is according to an intersocietal position statement recently issued by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine...
NYU Langone Health has performed a second successful investigational xenotransplantation procedure using a genetically engineered pig kidney. This second surgery is a sign of continued progress toward a potential alternative supply of life-saving organs, according to a press release. Leading...
Huge strides have been made in preventing contrast-associated acute kidney injury among patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and other interventional procedures in recent decades, Roxana Mehran (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA) tells Cardiovascular...
SyMap Medical has announced the completion of a financing round that will be used to accelerate global clinical trials for the company’s renal mapping and selective renal denervation systems. The financing round of nearly US$100 million was led by Primavera...
Arrow International has recalled its Arrow-Trerotola over-the-wire 7Fr percutaneous thrombolytic device (PTD) kits, which are used to remove clots in adult patients who have arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) and synthetic dialysis grafts. The recall has been attributed to the risk of the orange...
Alio has announced a partnership with Lifeline Vascular Care in support of patients living with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Alio leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and the company’s SmartPatch sensor technology to non-invasively monitor vascular access health and other chronic...
 The Amplifi Vein Dilation System (Artio Medical) is an innovative device designed to dilate arm veins in preparation for arteriovenous fistula (AVF) surgery using rapid, non-pulsatile venous blood flow. Surendra Shenoy, M.D. (a vascular surgeon with specialist interest in...
Artio Medical has announced that full results from its first-in-human clinical study of the Amplifi vein dilation system were presented at the 2021 VEITHSymposium (16–20 November, Orlando, USA and virtual) by Surendra Shenoy, associate professor of surgery in the Washington University School...
An observational study published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN) has identified a “promising” histological marker for determining kidney transplant failure. A collaboration between Kyoto University and Akita University in Japan—led by Motoko Yanagita, a professor...
University of Maryland Medicine—which is comprised of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) and the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM)—has announced that it will end the use of a long-standing clinical standard for measuring kidney function...
Dialysis patients who received mRNA COVID-19 vaccines had a lower risk of COVID-19 diagnosis post-vaccination, and were less likely to be hospitalised or die following breakthrough infection compared to unvaccinated patients. That is according to a study announced today...
RenalSense recently announced it has secured US$14 million to bolster the global commercialisation of its current product, the Clarity RMS, expand clinical validation to additional clinical settings, and advance the release of its next-generation products based on its sensor platform. The...
An updated risk score to predict possible contrast-associated acute kidney injury (CA-AKI) among patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has been presented by Roxana Mehran (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA) at the American Heart...
New technologies intended to improve the often-mixed outcomes associated with arteriovenous grafts (AVGs) for haemodialysis access were on display at this year’s Vascular Access Society of Britain & Ireland scientific meeting (VASBI; 16–17 September 2021, virtual). In addition to...
There are several different types of dialysis treatment available to kidney disease patients—with the three major players, in-centre haemodialysis (ICHD), home haemodialysis (HHD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) all holding their own benefits and drawbacks. Mark Lambie, a senior reader...
Simulations Plus has announced that its DILIsym Services division has released RENAsym version 1A, the first version of its novel quantitative systems toxicology (QST) software for predicting and investigating drug-induced kidney injury. RENAsym modelling supports key drug development decisions by predicting potential...
Baxter Asia Pacific (Baxter) has announced the launch of My Kidney Journey—a comprehensive online portal intended to support patients living with chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. CKD is becoming more prevalent in countries across Asia and continues to be a...
Fresenius Medical Care recently presented its advances in home dialysis solutions at the China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, China. The company showcased new digitalised options that enable patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) to perform dialysis in...
Early data have indicated that a national project, dubbed MAGIC (Managing access by generating improvements in cannulation), has improved cannulation techniques of haemodialysis accesses in UK centres. Catherine Fielding, a haemodialysis nurse and trainee advanced clinical practitioner (ACP) at...
People with kidney failure who are on dialysis or who have received a kidney transplant face a higher risk of dying from COVID-19—and new research has revealed that these individuals have profound immune system-related differences compared with people with...

Alexandros Mallios

Born and raised in the small lakeside city of Kastoria in northern Greece, Alexandros Mallios’ 15-year journey as a vascular surgeon has seen him complete a year of national service in the Greek military, travel to far-flung parts of...
The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) has announced the appointment of three new members to its national Board of Directors. The new members, Hubert L Allen (Chicago, USA), Renée Richardson Gosline (Cambridge, USA) and Alison Steiber (Shaker Heights, USA), were nominated and approved at...
OrganOx, the producer of the 'metra' normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) product, has announced the completion of a £6.4 million equity fundraise. The fundraise was led by Oxford Investment Consultants and supported by both existing and new shareholders. According to a...
 The upcoming Controversies in Dialysis Access (CiDA) meeting in Dallas, Texas is stepping up the scrutiny on the controversies and questions currently igniting the dialysis community, Bart Dolmatch (Portola Valley, USA) tells Renal Interventions at the Paris Vascular Insights...
New research presented at the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Kidney Week (2–7 November 2021, virtual) indicates that substantial discrepancies exist between two major tools used to assess kidney function—estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and measured glomerular filtration rate...
The Ellipsys vascular access system (Avenu Medical/Medtronic) can be used to easily and safely create durable percutaneous arteriovenous fistulas (pAVFs) for haemodialysis—with new, long-term data suggesting it offers an “excellent alternative” to AVF creation via surgical procedures in end-stage...
The results of several high-impact clinical trials with the potential to impact kidney-related medical care in the future were presented at this year’s American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Kidney Week (2–7 November 2021, virtual). Highlights from this session included...
Randomised placebo-controlled trials show consistently that renal denervation provides significant reduction in ambulatory and office blood pressure, the findings of a systematic review and meta-analysis suggest. Findings of the paper, authored by Yousif Ahmad (Yale School of Medicine, Yale University,...
Six-month outcomes from the randomised RADIANCE-HTN TRIO trial, comparing endovascular ultrasound renal denervation to a sham procedure for treatment-resistant hypertension, demonstrate the additional effects of pharmacologic intervention with maintenance of a blood pressure-lowering effect of renal denervation at six...
Medtronic today announced findings from a new study of patient preferences for the treatment of hypertension. The findings are set to be presented during the “What's Novel in Interventional Hypertension” session at the 33rd Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics annual meeting (TCT...
At the 12th Congress of the Vascular Access Society (VAS; 6–9 April 2021, online), Ramon Roca-Tey, senior consultant in nephrology at the Fundación Sanitaria Mollet’s Hospital de Mollet in Barcelona, ​​Spain, and president of the Spanish Multidisciplinary Group for...
Natera has announced initial results from the global, multicentre, prospective Trifecta study, which assessed its Prospera with quantification test for kidney transplant rejection and was led by Phil Halloran, director, Alberta Transplant Applied Genomics Centre (Edmonton, Canada). "These new data from the Trifecta study...

Renal Interventions 1 – US

Renal Interventions debuts with a diverse range of hot topics and leading insight from the kidney care field, including: The introduction of a new, race-free approach to diagnosing kidney disease Highlights from the 2021 Vascular Access Society of Britain &...

Renal Interventions 1 – EU

Renal Interventions debuts with a diverse range of hot topics and leading insight from the kidney care field, including: The introduction of a new, race-free approach to diagnosing kidney disease Highlights from the 2021 Vascular Access Society of Britain...
Difficulties in cannulation are currently as pressing as any other challenge facing patients who undergo device-enabled arteriovenous fistula (AVF) creation for dialysis. This was a central message presented by Neghae Mawla (Dallas Nephrology Associates, Dallas, USA) at the Paris...
Procyrion has announced the presentation of studies at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics annual meeting (TCT 2021, 4–6 November, Orlando USA and virtual) relating to its Aortix percutaneous mechanical circulatory support device. The presentations include a spotlight on the company's...
Outset Medical has announced that its Tablo haemodialysis system has received the first ever approval from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for a Transitional Add-on Payment Adjustment for New and Innovative Equipment and Supplies (TPNIES). This pioneering...
In the future, a global approach to help standardise clinical practice guidelines for kidney disease may be the ideal way forward. This was the closing message from Charmaine Lok (University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada) following a session at the...
Twelve-month results from a first-in-human study of the Wrapsody cell-impermeable endoprosthesis (Merit Medical Systems) for the treatment of access circuit stenosis in haemodialysis patients are “very encouraging”. This is according to James Gilbert, a consultant transplant and vascular access...
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is taking action to close health equity gaps by providing Medicare patients living with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) with greater access to care, according to a press release. Through the ESRD...
VenoStent has announced successful enrolment in its initial feasibility clinical trial. The clinical trial is testing the safety and efficacy of its 3D-printed bioabsorbable wraps in humans—a new methodology to improve surgical outcomes for haemodialysis patients. Enrolment was completed for...
The first investigational transplantation of a genetically engineered, non-human kidney to a human body was recently completed at NYU Langone Health, New York, USA—marking a major step forward in potentially utilising an alternative supply of organs for people facing...
Strive Health has announced Strive Care Partners (SCP)—a dedicated platform that enables nephrologists to share and succeed in global risk contracts with payors, according to a press release. Strive Care Partners will benefit patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and...
Quanta Dialysis Technologies announced today the results of the UK Dialysis Patient Experience Survey, showing the wide variance in care experienced by UK dialysis patients, as well as challenges faced in assessing self-care and home haemodialysis (HHD).  The survey revealed: ...
Despite the well-known obstacles, it is time for a prospective, randomised clinical trial comparing percutaneous ablation (PA) and partial nephrectomy for the treatment of small renal cell carcinomas—and re-thinking the common practice of watching and waiting, rather than intervening,...
There are multiple barriers to home dialysis initiation, and these disproportionately affect vulnerable populations. Current solutions need to be scaled up, with particular emphasis on educating physicians on home dialysis, improving modality education, increasing support for patients and families,...
Medtronic has announced receipt of a CE mark for its Hugo robotic-assist