Thrombus Resolution and Hemodynamic Recovery Using Ultrasound-accelerated Thrombolysis in Acute Pulmonary Embolism

Purpose: To. evaluate retrospectively the safety profile and. Clinical success of ultrasound-accelerated thrombolysis for acute pulmonary embolism (PE) with a standard lytic infusion protocol. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was performed at a single center treating patients with acute PE between October 2009 and April 2012. On diagnosis of submassive or massive PE by pulmonary computed tomography angiography or ventilation/perfusion scan, all patients received anticoagulation and treatment using the EkoSonic endovascular system (EKOS Corporation, Bothell, Washington). The ultrasound-accelerated thrombolytic infusion catheters were placed into the affected pulmonary arteries to facilitate administration of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator at 0.5-1.0 mg/h/catheter. Results: Treatment of 60 patients (35,men, 25 women; Age 61 y +/- 16; 53 bilateral PE; 48 submassive PE) resulted in complete thrombus clearance (>= 90%) in 57% and near-complete (50%-90%) clearance in 41% of patients after infusion of 35.1 mg +/- 11.1 of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator over 19.6 hours +/- 6.0. Measurements before and after treatment showed a decrease in pulmonary artery pressure (47 mm Hg +/- 15 to 38 mm Hg +/- 12 [systolic], P < .001) and Miller score (25 +/- 3 to 17 +/- 6, P < .001). There were 57 patients who survived to discharge. All three patients who died in the hospital presented with massive PE. On 90-day follow-up, 56 patients (93%) were alive. Conclusions: The current study demonstrates effectiveness and safety of ultrasound-accelerated thrombolysis in patients With acute PE With a large thrombus burden: