What is an arteriovenous fistula?

  Arteriovenous fistulas are common vascular surgical conditions in which blood “short-circuits” between arteries and veins for a variety of reasons, communicating directly between the arteriovenous trunk without passing through the capillary network. Arteriovenous fistulas can occur in all parts of the body, but are most commonly seen in the extremities. Trunk and visceral arteriovenous fistulas are less common.  Arteriovenous fistulas can be classified according to the cause: 1. congenital arteriovenous fistulas: due to congenital dysplasia of the vessels. 2.  2. Traumatic arteriovenous fistula: Mostly due to sharp injuries, such as knife or gunshot penetrating the body and damaging the adjacent arteries, causing them to communicate with each other, resulting in arteriovenous fistula.  3, artificial arteriovenous fistula: Patients with renal failure, who need dialysis treatment, can establish artificial arteriovenous fistula to facilitate puncture and dialysis treatment.  Arteriovenous fistulas caused by congenital or traumatic vascular malformations have the biological behavior of malignant tumors: as time goes on, the number of fistulas between arteries and veins increases and the lesions develop and spread to involve adjacent tissues and organs. Due to chronic short-circuiting between the arteries and veins, the blood flows directly back to the heart without passing through the capillaries, leading to an increasing burden on the heart, which eventually leads to compensatory increase in heart size, heart failure and death.  Arteriovenous fistulas are very difficult to treat because they are often not single, and because of the presence of numerous small fistulas that can grow into large fistulas after the large fistula is closed, they cannot be cured, and only the larger fistulas can be addressed to the greatest extent possible, with no way to treat the small fistulas. In the past, treatment by surgery was highly invasive and prone to nerve damage leading to limb dysfunction, as it was difficult to observe smaller fistulas under direct anatomical view, and therefore treatment was ineffective and the postoperative recurrence rate was very high.  In recent years, there has been significant progress in the treatment of arteriovenous fistulas through minimally invasive interventions, and the development of various peripheral cladding prostheses (e.g., Gore’s Viabahn stent, Bard’s Fluency stent, etc.) has made it easier to seal arteriovenous fistulas, and some small fistulas that could not be sealed surgically in the past can be sealed with cladding stents, although it is not possible to Although the closure of all fistulas is not guaranteed, the results of minimally invasive procedures are much better than those of previous open procedures, and the recurrence rate is significantly lower, making it the current strategy of choice for the treatment of certain arteriovenous fistulas.