Brachiocephalic fistula

Last revised by Daniel J Bell ◉ on 13 Jul 2021

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Weerakkody Y, Bell D, Luong D, Brachiocephalic fistula. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 01 Jun 2023) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-90114

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-90114

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/90114

rID:

90114

Article created:

4 Jun 2021, Yuranga Weerakkody ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Yuranga Weerakkody had no recorded disclosures.

View Yuranga Weerakkody's current disclosures

Last revised:

13 Jul 2021, Daniel J Bell ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Daniel J Bell had no recorded disclosures.

View Daniel J Bell's current disclosures

Revisions:

5 times, by 3 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Vascular

Synonyms:

Brachiocephalic arteriovenous fistula
Brachiocephalic arterio-venous fistula
Brachiocephalic arteriovenous fistulation
Brachiocephalic fistula

A brachiocephalic fistula is a form of acquired arm arteriovenous fistula usually performed for chronic haemodialysis.

Criteria for adequate vasculature

Reported criteria include:

arterial diameter of >2 mm
vein diameter of >2.5 mm, while a tourniquet or blood pressure cuff is applied

Drawbacks

precludes the opportunity for the subsequent creation of a more distal fistula

Complications

Reported complications include:

steal syndrome: 5-20 x greater rate of steal syndrome than in those with a radiocephalic fistula ³
cephalic arch stenosis (CAS): haemodynamically significant cephalic arch stenoses may form a considerable proportion (reported range 30-77%) of dysfunctional brachiocephalic fistulae ³