**1. Background**

VA is an essential component of the life-sustaining therapy in end stage kidney disease patients relying on a sustained extracorporeal circulation for haemodialysis (HD) or haemodiafiltration (HDF) [1, 2]. Indeed, VA is often referred to as the lifeline or Achilles heel for a dialysis-dependent patient [3]. VA performance is a key factor to drive success or failure in all forms of extracorporeal renal replacement treatment [4]. Furthermore, VA dysfunction or complication is the major cause of morbidity requiring interventional procedures (angioplasty and revision) or hospitalisation [4–6]. Furthermore, VA morbidity represents a tremendous burden both

for patient and health care system [7, 8]. VA management in chronic kidney disease patient is of tremendous importance in quality care of dialysis patients, since it represents a daily duty for care givers in the nephrology area to ensure success of renal replacement therapy, to improve patient outcome and to reduce burden of VA morbidity [1, 9].
