During the first 7 years of a maintenance hemodialysis program, 14 of 55 patients (25%) died. The loss of patients was constant throughout the period, 4 of 55 (8%) dying during the first and 1 of 10 (10%) during the seventh year of dialysis treatment. Congestive heart failure following the insertion of a femoral artery shunt accounted for the death of 2 long-term patients.
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Eli A. Friedman (2008) studied this question.