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Updated: Aug 21, 2026

A Novel Inhalation Mask System to Deliver High Concentrations of Nitric Oxide Gas in Spontaneously Breathing Subjects
Published on: May 4, 2021
Inhaled nitric oxide as an adjunct to suction thrombectomy for pulmonary embolism
Salomão Faintuch1, Elvira V Lang, Robert I Cohen
1Departments of Radiology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Avenue (WCC 308), Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
Abstract:
Pulmonary suction thrombectomy can be a successful interventional tool in the treatment of pulmonary thromboembolism. Removal of clot burden typically results in prompt recovery of hemodynamic stability and improved oxygenation. However, in rare cases, clot removal does not sufficiently improve the clinical situation. Herein, two patients with massive pulmonary thromboembolism are presented whose condition improved only after they received nitric oxide as an adjunct to pulmonary suction thrombectomy. The treatment with this inhalable vasodilator was based on the hypothesis that prolonged ischemia had induced microcirculatory vasospasm, persistent after removal of the central clot.
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