over a seven year period from 1982 to 1989,3337 conduits were created in 3137 patients with end stage renal disease (esrd) as access for chronic dialysis. these included 2690 side-to-side arteriovenous fistulae (a vf), 168 end-to-side a vfs, 10 autogenous vein grafts, 51 homogenous frozen vein grafts, 109 polytetrafluoroethylene (ptfe) grafts, 209 emergency external arteriovenous shunts, three ...