Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the study population
| Parameter | All Participants (n=536) | Patients without AVF Failurea (n=283) | Patients with AVF Failurea (n=253) | P Value |
| Female, n (%) | 194 (36) | 89 (32) | 105 (42) | 0.02 |
| Age (yr) | 55.0±14.4 | 53.6±14.3 | 56.5±14.4 | 0.02 |
| Ethnicity, n (%) | 0.25 | |||
| White | 289 (54) | 143 (51) | 146 (58) | |
| Asian | 169 (32) | 101 (36) | 68 (27) | |
| Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander | 21 (4) | 9 (3) | 12 (5) | |
| Maori and Pacific Islander | 38 (7) | 20 (7) | 18 (7) | |
| Other | 19 (4) | 10 (4) | 9 (4) | |
| Region of recruitment, n (%) | 0.01 | |||
| Australia/NZ/UK | 392 (73) | 193 (68) | 199 (79) | |
| Malaysia | 144 (27) | 90 (32) | 54 (21) | |
| Cause of ESKD, n (%) | 0.90 | |||
| Diabetes mellitus | 202 (38) | 104 (37) | 98 (39) | |
| GN | 72 (13) | 40 (14) | 32 (13) | |
| Hypertension | 71 (13) | 40 (14) | 31 (12) | |
| Polycystic | 40 (8) | 23 (8) | 17 (7) | |
| Reflux | 26 (5) | 14 (5) | 12 (5) | |
| Others | 125 (23) | 62 (22) | 63 (25) | |
| BMI (kg/m2), median (interquartile range) | 27.2 (23.4–32.0) | 27.1 (23.9–31.7) | 27.5 (23.0–32.5) | 0.83 |
| Comorbidity, n (%) | ||||
| Hypertension | 475 (89) | 259 (92) | 216 (85) | 0.03 |
| DM | 243 (45) | 132 (47) | 111 (44) | 0.52 |
| IHD | 53 (10) | 24 (9) | 29 (12) | 0.25 |
| CCF | 21 (4) | 12 (4) | 9 (4) | 0.68 |
| PVD | 23 (4) | 8 (3) | 15 (6) | 0.08 |
| CVD | 17 (3) | 11 (4) | 6 (2) | 0.32 |
| Composite of IHD, CVD, and PVD | 79 (15) | 38 (13) | 41 (16) | 0.37 |
| Baseline BP (mm Hg), mean±SD | ||||
| SBP | 146.1±23.0 | 147.2±21.9 | 144.9±24.2 | 0.25 |
| DBP | 81.4±13.4 | 83.1±12.9 | 79.5±13.6 | <0.01 |
| MAP | 103.0±14.4 | 104.5±13.6 | 101.3±15.0 | 0.01 |
| PP | 64.1±20.0 | 64.1±19.6 | 65.4±20.5 | 0.45 |
| HbA1c (%), mean±SDb | 6.2±1.4 | 6.3±1.5 | 6.2±1.3 | 0.25 |
| LDL-C (mmol/L), median (interquartile range)b | 2.4 (1.8–3.1) | 2.6 (1.9–3.3) | 2.3 (1.7–3.1) | 0.07 |
| Smoking, n (%) | 0.68 | |||
| Never | 264 (49) | 137 (48) | 127 (50) | |
| Current or previous | 272 (51) | 146 (52) | 126 (50) | |
| Current or previous history of RRT, n (%) | 268 (50) | 139 (49) | 129 (51) | 0.63 |
| Presence of CVC, n (%) | 218 (41) | 107 (38) | 111 (44) | 0.15 |
| Serum albumin (g/L), median (interquartile range) | 36 (32–40) | 37 (33–41) | 36 (32–40) | 0.22 |
| PTH (pmol/L), median (interquartile range)b | 28 (16.1–45.3) | 30.2 (16.6–50.8) | 26.6 (15.2–40.8) | 0.05 |
| INR, median (interquartile range)b | 1 (1.0–1.1) | 1 (0.9–1.1) | 1 (1–1.1) | 0.58 |
| APTT, median (interquartile range)b | 30.1 (27–34) | 31 (27.7–35) | 30 (27–34) | 0.09 |
| Hemoglobin (g/L), mean±SD | 108.2±18.6 | 106.8±17.7 | 109.7±19.5 | 0.08 |
| Platelets, median (interquartile range) | 233 (191–288) | 233 (193–289) | 233 (191–287) | 0.83 |
| Medications, n (%) | ||||
| Statin | 275 (51) | 148 (52) | 127 (50) | 0.63 |
| ESA | 253 (47) | 139 (49) | 114 (45) | 0.35 |
| β-Blockers | 247 (46) | 135 (48) | 112 (44) | 0.43 |
| ACE-I/ARB | 224 (42) | 117 (41) | 107 (42) | 0.82 |
| CCB | 299 (56) | 167 (59) | 132 (52) | 0.11 |
| Surgeons, n (%) | 0.43 | |||
| Consultants | 419 (78) | 225 (80) | 194 (77) | |
| Registrars/residents | 117 (22) | 58 (21) | 59 (23) | |
| Type of anesthesia, n (%) | 0.08 | |||
| Local anesthesia | 211 (40) | 122 (43) | 89 (36) | |
| Regional/general anesthesia | 322 (60) | 161 (57) | 161 (64) | |
| AVF created, n (%) | 0.08 | |||
| Radiocephalic | 312 (58) | 168 (59) | 144 (57) | |
| Brachiocephalic | 180 (34) | 99 (35) | 81 (32) | |
| Brachiobasilic | 37 (7) | 12 (4) | 25 (10) | |
| Others | 7 (1) | 4 (1) | 3 (1) | |
| Intraoperative heparin, n (%) | 352 (66) | 184 (65) | 168 (67) | 0.73 |
| Randomization to aspirin, n (%) | 0.04 | |||
| Randomized to placebo | 194 (36) | 107 (38) | 87 (34) | |
| Randomized to aspirin | 194 (36) | 111 (39) | 83 (33) | |
| Open-label aspirin | 148 (28) | 65 (23) | 83 (33) | |
| Randomization to fish oil, n (%) | 270 (50) | 142 (50) | 128 (51) | 0.92 |
Continuous variables are presented in mean±SD if normally distributed and median (interquartile range) if non-normally distributed. Independent t test and Mann–Whitney U test performed for continuous variable when appropriate. Chi-squared test and Fisher exact test performed for categoric variables when appropriate. AVF, arteriovenous fistula; NZ, New Zealand; UK, United Kingdom; BMI, body mass index; DM, diabetes mellitus; IHD, ischemic heart disease; CCF, congestive cardiac failure; PVD, peripheral vascular disease; CVD, cerebrovascular disease; SBP, systolic BP; DB, diastolic BP; MAP, mean arterial pressure; PP, pulse pressure; HbA1c, hemoglobin A1c; LDL-C, LDL cholesterol; CVC, central venous catheter; PTH, parathyroid hormone; INR, international normalized ratio; APTT, activated partial thromboplastin time; ESA, erythropoietin-stimulating agent; ACE-I/ARB, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blocker; CCB, calcium channel blocker.
AVF failure is defined as composite of AVF thrombosis and/or failure to cannulate and/or abandonment of AVF within 12 months of AVF creation.
Variables with >5% missing data.