Cimino fistula

Possible causes for failure are stenosis and thrombosis especially in diabetics and those with low blood flow such as due to narrow vessels, arteriosclerosis and advanced age.

[3] Surgically created AV fistulas work effectively because they: The procedure was invented by doctors James Cimino and M. J. Brescia at the Bronx Veterans Administration Hospital in 1966.

Frustrated by this limitation, James E. Cimino recalled his days as a phlebotomist (blood drawer) at New York City's Bellevue Hospital in the 1950s when Korean War veterans showed up with fistulas caused by trauma.

He convinced surgeon Kenneth Appell to create some in patients with chronic kidney failure and the result was a complete success.

Scribner shunts were quickly replaced with Cimino fistulas, and they remain the most effective, longest-lasting method for long-term access to patients' blood for hemodialysis today.