Evaluation of STARgraft-3 for Hemodialysis

This study is a single site, prospective, single arm evaluation of the safety and effectiveness of the Healionics STARgraft-3 hemodialysis access graft. STARgraft devices have been demonstrated in preclinical and other studies to have improved resistance to the common failure modes of venous anastomosis stenosis and infection.

This study is an extension from prior studies with STARgraft AV (NCT03916731) and STARgraft-2 (NCT04783779) investigational devices. A previous study also included control implants of commercially available standard ePTFE grafts approved for the same use.

The study is enrolling patients with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) requiring hemodialysis via a prosthetic vascular graft. The study proposes to evaluate the performance of the investigational STARgraft-3 compared to the ePTFE controls in the prior study and to published results, over a period of 6 months, with extended results to 1 year.

Estimated enrollment is 15 subjects in this study.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: End Stage Renal Disease
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: Implant of STARgraft-3 shunt in the upper arm and subsequent use for hemodialysis access

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 21
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Paraguay
  • Asunción, Paraguay
    • Italian Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Male or female, > 18 years or age.
2. Patient has given informed consent to participate in the trial.
3. Stated willingness to comply with all study procedures and availability for the duration of the study.
4. Able to effectively communicate with study personnel.
5. Candidate for a new arterio-venous graft placed in the upper arm.
6. Life expectancy judged to be at least 2 years.
7. Axillary vein of greater than or equal to 7 mm in diameter.
8. Brachial artery of greater than or equal to 4 mm in diameter.
9. Acceptable cardiac risk level (Cardiac Output ≥ 3.5 L/min, Pulmonary Artery Pressure ≤ 50 mmHg, Ejection Fraction ≥ 40%)
10. Systolic blood pressure equal to or greater than 120 mmHg.
11. Absence of central venous stenosis downstream from implant site confirmed with ultrasound and/or venogram.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Unable or unlikely to comply with trial protocol and/or follow-up.
2. Pregnancy.
3. Clinically morbid obesity.
4. Anatomical limitations.
5. Immunodeficiency syndrome.
6. History of bacterial infection within 8 weeks prior to graft implantation.
7. History of hypercoagulation or bleeding disorders.
8. Elevated platelet count > 1 million per microliter of blood.
9. History of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia syndrome (HIT).
10. Medically confirmed stenosis of the veins downstream of the implant site.
11. Inadequate arterial flow or pressure proximal to the implant site.
12. Currently participating in another investigation drug or device study which may clinically interfere with any endpoints of this trial.
13. Fever greater than 38°C.
14. Prior allergic reaction to silicone.
15. Confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infection within 8 weeks prior to graft implant, or ongoing COVID-19 symptoms.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: STARgraft-3; Participants will be implanted with 6mm diameter STARgraft-3 grafts as an upper arm Brachial Artery to Axillary Vein shunt for hemodialysis access.	Device: Implant of STARgraft-3 shunt in the upper arm and subsequent use for hemodialysis access; After healing from the surgical procedure, the graft will be routinely cannulated for hemodialysis sessions. Periodic evaluations of blood flow by ultrasound imaging will be made over the study period. Established standards of care will be followed as needed to maintain dialysis function.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Primary Unassisted Patency	Percentage of subjects without an occurrence of either an access thrombosis or an access procedure performed to maintain patency.	6 months post implantation

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Primary Unassisted Patency	Percentage of subjects without an occurrence of either an access thrombosis or an access procedure performed to maintain patency.	1, 2, 4, 9 and 12 months post implantation
Assisted Primary Patency	Percentage of subjects retaining patency after one or more interventions so long as patency was not lost at any point.	1, 2, 4, 6, 9, and 12 months post implantation
Secondary Patency (Cumulative Patency)	Percentage of subjects without loss of access at the original implant site.	1, 2, 4, 6, 9, and 12 months post implantation
Frequency of Interventions	Frequency of interventions related to graft placement and use for dialysis access.	1, 2, 4, 6, 9 and 12 months post implantation
Blood Flow Rates in Grafts	Ultrasound measurements of flow rates (ml/minute) to detect patency trends with time after implantation.	2 weeks and 1, 2, 4, 6, 9, and 12 months post implantation
Safety Outcomes	Frequency and severity of Adverse Events resulting from graft implantation and use for hemodialysis access.	1, 2, 4, 6, 9, and 12 months post implantation

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Healionics Corporation
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Adrian Ebner, MD, Italian Hospital Asuncion Paraguay

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 29, 2022
• Primary Completion (Actual): February 2, 2024
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 6, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 6, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): February 15, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 27, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 24, 2026
• Last Verified: April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Hemodialysis; Vascular Access; Arterio-Venous Grafts (AVG)
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Urogenital Diseases; Pathologic Processes; Male Urogenital Diseases; Kidney Diseases; Urologic Diseases; Female Urogenital Diseases; Female Urogenital Diseases and Pregnancy Complications; Chronic Disease; Disease Attributes; Renal Insufficiency; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Kidney Failure, Chronic
• Other Study ID Numbers: CIP 00530

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: Yes
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: Yes