Ultrasound device shows promise in breaking up pulmonary embolisms: Research

Jan 20 2011

A tiny ultrasound device that helps dissolve blood clots is showing promise in breaking up potentially deadly pulmonary embolisms (PEs), blockages of blood vessels in the lungs that can occur after long plane rides, surgery and extended bed rest. Research on the largest group of patients treated with this method to date will be presented at the 23^rd annual International Symposium on Endovascular Therapy (ISET).

In the study, 27 patients with significant PEs were treated at East Jefferson General Hospital in Metairie, La. All survived and each benefitted from a significant reduction in right heart chamber size. On average, the size of each clot was reduced by more than half. Four patients suffered from major bleeding and two from minor bleeding. There were no bleeding complications in patients who received a lower dose of clot-busting drugs.

"This method may revolutionize the way we treat patients with large PEs," said Tod Engelhardt, M.D., chairman of the Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery Division at East Jefferson General Hospital, and assistant professor of surgery at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans. "These are patients who were saved and prevented from going into heart failure."

In traditional therapy, clot-busting drugs are delivered to the blockage, but the method can take many hours or even days. In the ultrasound method, the device is advanced through blood vessels to the site of the blockage, where it emits sound waves that loosen the clot, allowing the clot-busting drugs to dissolve it faster. The method currently is used to treat blood clots in the legs (called deep vein thrombosis or DVT) and other parts of the body.

PE can occur after part of a clot in another part of the body - often the legs - breaks off and travels through the heart, lodging in a lung artery. Risk factors for developing PE include obesity, smoking and high blood pressure. About 60,000 people with DVT die every year, most of them from PE.