Transhepatic PermCath for Hemodialysis

The establishment and maintenance of a reliable vascular access continues to be a problem in hemodialysis. We report a patient with end-stage lupus nephritis who had no alternative for vascular access and failed peritoneal dialysis. A vascular access device (PermCath, Quinton Instrument Co, Bothell, WA) was inserted using a transhepatic approach. There were no bleeding or thrombotic complications. The catheter was replaced once through the same track due to poor blood flow and reinserted once after 5 days due to infection. The patient has been doing well and receiving adequate dialytic therapy for over 1 year with this form of vascular access.