The Surfacer

Thoracic central venous obstruction is a common clinical complication in dialysis patients utilizing hemodialysis catheters. Thoracic central venous obstruction can lead to inability to utilize affected veins for catheter placement and sequential use of less preferred alternative venous access sites. The latter can affect the ability to create and/or mature permanent arteriovenous access and contribute to the future loss of thoracic veins for venous access. While alternative procedures exist for gaining venous access in patients who have exhausted routine venous access options, these procedures are complex, time-consuming, and associated with high patient risk. The Surfacer System provides a new approach in patients with right-sided thoracic central venous obstruction, enabling the ability to establish repeated access from the right side of the neck to the right atrium. We describe the use of the Surfacer System to facilitate placement of hemodialysis catheters in a series of nine patients with thoracic central venous obstruction involving one or more central veins. Patient characteristics and procedure-related outcomes were recorded for all patients. Central venous access was successfully achieved in eight of nine patients using the Surfacer System. Significant venous tortuosity resulted in the inability to achieve venous access in one patient and prolonged procedural time to achieve access in another patient. The mean time required for Surfacer-related procedural steps and associated fluoroscopy time in the remaining seven patients was 13.3 and 3.7 min, respectively. The Surfacer System provides an efficient low-complexity alternative for gaining repeated right-sided central venous access in hemodialysis patients with obstructed thoracic veins.