Ultrasound-accelerated catheter-directed thrombolysis (USAT) was successful at treating acute submassive pulmonary embolisms, according to a retrospective study.
Acute pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular dysfunction (RVD), on average, became significantly less severe in all of the study’s 45 participants. Specifically, main pulmonary artery pressure decreased to 31.1 mm Hg from 49.8 mm Hg. The improvement in RVD was demonstrated by a decreased right ventricle-to-left-ventricle ratio to 0.93 from 1.59.
Although no complications occurred as a result of catheter placement, six complications resulted from other causes. Those complications included four minor venous access-site hemorrhagic complications and two major bleeding complications: a flank hematoma and an arm hematoma.
“USAT is a safe and efficacious method of treatment of submassive PE to reduce acute pulmonary hypertension and RVD. Future studies should be aimed at examining the long-term effect of USAT on mortality, exercise tolerance, and pulmonary hypertension,” wrote Dr. Sandeep Bagla of the Inova Alexandria (Va.) Hospital and his colleagues.
Find the full study in the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology (doi:10.1016/j.jvir.2014.12.017).