A-V grafts are more prone to recurrent stenosis and thrombosis than are fistulas, and require multiple radiologic or surgical interventions to ensure their long-term patency for dialysis [26]. A report from UAB observed that the first salvage procedure to maintain graft patency (thrombectomy, angioplasty, or surgical revision) was required in 29% of grafts at 3 months, 52% at 6 months, 77% at 12 months, and 96% at 24 months [5]. Most grafts required multiple interventions over time to maintain their patency for dialysis. A mean of 1.22 interventions were required to maintain access patency per graft-year, including 0.51 thrombectomies, 0.54 angioplasties, and 0.17 surgical revisions. Secondary graft survival (time from initial placement to permanent failure, regardless of number of interventions) has ranged from 59 to 87% at one year, and 50 to 73% at two years [27-35]. A number of studies have examined the association of demographic and clinical factors with long-term graft survival, but no consistent clinical predictor of poor graft outcome has emerged. Windus et al [27] observed lower graft survival in diabetics as compared with nondiabetics. In contrast, three other studies observed no significant difference in graft survival between diabetic and nondiabetic patients [5, 35, 36]. Several investigators have reported a lack of association between patient age or sex and long-term graft survival [5, 35-37]. Windus et al [27] found that older age predicted lower graft survival in non-diabetics, but not in diabetic patients. Graft survival is similar between upper arm and forearm grafts [5, 29]. Finally, hypoalbuminemia has been associated with shorter A-V graft survival in 2 reports [5, 36].