This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Jerome I. Tokars, MD, MPH; Elaine R. Miller, RN, MPH
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Atlanta, Ga

JAMA. 1997;277(6):455.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.

—Although more readily constructed in many patients needing vascular access for hemodialysis, AV grafts using synthetic material are more prone to thrombosis and infection than are native fistulas.¹ Hirth et al² made an important contribution by showing that the use of a graft vs a fistula on day 30 of hemodialysis depended on a number of clinical and nonclinical factors, including geographic region.² To determine the use of fistulas vs grafts in US hemodialysis patients, we analyzed data from the National Surveillance of Dialysis-Associated Diseases, which is an annual mail survey of all US chronic hemodialysis centers. The survey is conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in collaboration with the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA).³

Dialysis centers reported the number of patients receiving chronic hemodialysis who were treated during December 25 to 31,1995, and the percentage of these patients treated with a . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?