Forceful pulsatile local infusion of enzyme accelerates thrombolysis: in vivo evaluation of a new delivery system.

Forceful local pulsatile infusion of fibrinolytic enzyme disrupts thrombi, increases clot surface area, and thereby hastens enzyme action compared with conventional constant infusion methods, which are time consuming and therefore expensive. Prolonged thrombolytic therapy is associated with increased patient morbidity. A prototype for a clinically applicable pulsatile jet infusion system for accelerating thrombolysis was designed. The system is adaptable to standard angiographic catheters and techniques. The core of the system is a reciprocating syringe pump that delivers small volumes of thrombolytic enzyme in short, rapid, frequent pulses at high exit-jet velocity through any side-hole catheter (the smallest used was a 3-F catheter). Comparison of this system with a constant infusion system was made in vivo in a 48-hour-old thrombus model in rabbit inferior vena cava (IVC). One hour of lysis by streptokinase was conducted with each of the methods. In the first experiment, the IVC thrombi were left intac...