Vasc-Alert Surveillance Technology Studied to Predict Vascular Access Stenosis in Dialysis Patients

January 25, 2023—Vasc-Alert, LLC, a company focused on vascular access surveillance, recently announced the publication of a study validating its surveillance technology for dialysis patients.

The FDA-cleared Vasc-Alert automated surveillance system is a subscription-based service used in dialysis treatment. Vasc-Alert LLC was formed in 2002 to commercialize dialysis vascular access surveillance software developed by Henry Ford Health.

According to the company, the study, published by Lalathaksha Kumbar, MD, et al in The Journal of Vascular Access, found that the Vasc-Alert technology reliably predicts which patients may have stenosis in their access. The study also suggests that use of Vasc-Alert may be better than clinical monitoring alone.

The company advised that the study was conducted at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, and was composed of 38 patients who were receiving dialysis through an arteriovenous access.

The investigators performed a physical and ultrasound exam on all the patients, comparing the results to the Access Risk Score produced by the Vasc-Alert algorithm, which predicts how likely patients were to experience access complications.

Vasc-Alert explained that the technology works by using data that are already collected by dialysis machines, such as arterial and venous pressures, to derive the pressures in the vascular access. These results are then reduced to a simple 1 to 10 Access Risk Score. The higher the score, the more likely it is that patients will experience stenosis and require an intervention to prevent complications.

In the study, half of the patients had scores of 1, 2, or 3 (indicating low risk) and half had scores of 8, 9, or 10 (indicating high risk). The investigators evaluated both groups of patients for access stenosis by both physical and ultrasound examinations (ie, clinical monitoring).

The investigators found that patients identified with high-risk scores were seven times more likely to experience stenosis than patients with low-risk scores.

Dr. Kumbar, who is a nephrologist at Henry Ford Hospital, estimated that the technology can decrease the incidence of thrombosis by at least 30% to 40%. Because of the high cost of vascular access–related complication, including failure caused by stenosis, Dr. Kumbar noted in the press release that the use of Vasc-Alert can bring substantial benefits to the entire health care system. He added, “Because of what it can do, it should get into the clinical practice yesterday.”

Study investigator Robert Provenzano, MD, a nephrologist at Ascension St. John Hospital in Detroit, commented in the company’s press release, “We knew the Vasc-Alert technology was effective, but these results showed that it performs even better than we anticipated.”

The company noted that health care providers can use Vasc-Alert’s surveillance technology by subscribing to the service at a nominal cost per patient. Given the technology’s potential savings in access replacements, Dr. Provenzano stated, “I think more and more providers are going to see that as having a value to them rather than being a cost.”