Dr. Bu Quandong’s Team at The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University Showcases the Application of Dissolve™ AV Scoring Drug-Coated Balloon in Refractory Arteriovenous Fistula Stenosis

Preoperative Analysis:Middle-aged male, with an arteriovenous fistula used for approximately half a year, previously underwent PTA treatment four and a half months ago. The main reason for this hospitalization is that the pump speed during dialysis could not meet the dialysis requirements. Physical examination and ultrasound both indicated stenosis of the drift segment of the left forearm arteriovenous fistula, with a stenosis degree >50%. Surgical intervention is indicated, with no contraindications.

After dilation, the stenotic segment of the vessel is visible, with a significantly increased effective lumen; fragmented valve pieces can be seen floating in the lumen post-expansion.

On the day of the surgery, hemodialysis was performed with a pump-controlled flow rate of 220ml/min for 4 hours. The patient was stable after getting off the machine without any discomfort.

The Nephrology Department of the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University was established in 1979, being the first tertiary nephrology discipline in the province with independent wards and a complete organizational structure. It is currently a national pharmaceutical affairs base for nephrology, a national residency training base for nephrology, a national continuing medical education base, a Shandong Province blood purification nursing training base, a key clinical specialty of Shandong Province, a key clinical specialty of Qingdao City, and the Qingdao City Key Laboratory of Nephrology.

The department is a comprehensive kidney disease diagnosis and treatment center integrating clinical practice, scientific research, and teaching, covering five hospital areas in Shinan, Laoshan, West Coast, Shibei, and Pingdu. It has a staff of 120 medical professionals, including 9 chief physicians, 11 deputy chief physicians, and 20 mid- to junior-level physicians; among them are 1 Taishan Scholar Distinguished Expert, 1 Taishan Scholar Young Expert, 1 Outstanding Youth Talent in Health and Medicine of Qilu, 2 top professionals in Qingdao, and 1 excellent discipline leader from the Qingdao Health Commission. The department has also appointed 1 honorary director and 1 research deputy director. Long-term cooperative relationships have been established with Mayo Clinic, Stanford University, University of Utah, and Emory University, and several physicians have been sent abroad for further training.

The Nephrology Department of the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University was one of the first master's degree authorization points approved by the State Council. It is also a doctoral degree authorization point and a postdoctoral workstation. As a national training base for nephrology specialty resident physicians, it includes one postdoctoral supervisor, two doctoral supervisors, eight master’s supervisors, and ten overseas-trained physicians. Each year, the department cultivates outstanding professionals for society and has successively received honorary titles such as "Outstanding Resident Physician in China" and "Outstanding Teaching Unit for Resident Physicians." The team trains more than ten master's students, one to two doctoral students, and one to two postdoctoral fellows annually.

The department currently has 111 beds, with an annual outpatient and emergency volume of more than 90,000 people and over 800 surgeries. It is equipped with 201 hemodialysis machines, 18 CRRT machines, and 6 automated peritoneal dialysis machines. The department serves more than 800 regular hemodialysis patients annually, follows up with over 300 peritoneal dialysis patients, and completes more than 800 renal biopsy procedures each year.

The department, as a provincial and municipal hemodialysis specialist nurse training base, receives more than a hundred specialist nurses and trainees each year. It has continuously undertaken the training of hemodialysis specialists in Shandong Province, training nearly a hundred specialists. The department has gained recognition from the trainees and contributed to the development of hemodialysis centers in hospitals at all levels around Shandong Province. It actively promotes various new technologies and projects, such as the application of SCUF in patients with cardio-renal syndrome, pediatric hemodialysis, plasma exchange, citrate anticoagulation, and other new technologies, achieving good social and economic benefits and winning the hospital's major rescue award.

The department hosts the "Peninsula Nephrology Forum" annually, undertakes national and provincial continuing education projects, and invites well-known professors from China and abroad to share their expertise. The department also serves as the Secretary General unit of the World Chinese Nephrology Association, organizing the Nephrology Sub-forum of the World Chinese Physicians Association each year, holding considerable international influence.

In recent years, the department has undertaken 11 projects supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, more than 10 provincial and ministerial-level projects, with a total funding for project research and specialty development exceeding 18 million yuan. It has successively received 20 awards at the provincial and municipal levels, including 20 awards for scientific and technological progress, and published over a hundred SCI papers. Subspecialties include: Acute Kidney Injury, Hemodialysis Vascular Access, Metabolic Disease-Related Kidney Damage, Immune-Inflammatory Kidney Diseases, Peritoneal Dialysis, and HBV-Associated Glomerulonephritis.