Percutaneous catheter and guidewire fragmentation with local administration of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator as a treatment for massive pulmonary embolism.

The purpose of this article is to report four patients with massive pulmonary embolism treated with percutaneous catheter and guidewire fragmentation and local administration of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (r-TPA). Four patients with massive pulmonary embolism initially underwent pulmonary angiography. Thrombus fragmentation was performed with both standard angiographic guidewires and catheters followed by local infusion of 41–200 mg of r-TPA. Pulmonary angiography was repeated after treatment. All patients survived with improvement in their clinical status and eventual discharge from hospital. Angiography in all patients post treatment demonstrated improvement in pulmonary perfusion (mean Miller score before treatment 22.5; mean Miller score after treatment 5.75). No patient had a significant complication. Mechanical fragmentation of the thrombus followed by local infusion of r-TPA was an effective treatment for massive pulmonary embolism in these four patients with no significant complications.