A new treatment for severe pulmonary embolism: percutaneous rheolytic thrombectomy

The rheolytic thrombectomy catheter has been specially designed to remove intravascular thrombus from coronary and peripheral arteries. It demonstrates a practical application of Bernoulli's principle relating to a low-pressure zone in the region of a high-velocity jet. In this device, this effect is created by direct high-pressure saline jets located at the tip. Thrombus is drawn into this region and, because of the large pressure difference, undergoes mechanical thrombolysis due to the powerful mixing forces. The resulting microparticles are aspirated through the same catheter and removed from the body.

We report the use of this device in two patients presenting with severe pulmonary embolism and contraindications to thrombolytic therapy. The two procedures were successfully performed with an excellent immediate angiographic result at the site of the rheolytic thrombectomy. In both cases, the clinical improvement was maintained at follow-up with the same good angiographic result and a decrease to a normal level of the systolic pulmonary pressure.

This preliminary results suggest that this easy technical method may be useful in the treatment of life-threatening pulmonary embolism in patients with absolute contraindications to thrombolytic therapy. A larger cohort of patients is necessary to determine whether this treatment should be proposed as an alternative to the use of fibrinolytics in selected patients.