Evolving Concepts in Thrombolytic Therapy for Pulmonary Embolism

¹ The Cardiovascular Division, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston.

Many clinicians who practiced in the early and mid-1970s remember PE thrombolysis as an extraordinary enterprise that consumed hospital resources and physicians' time around the clock for at least several days. Indeed, more than 1 in every 4 patients suffered a major hemorrhagic complication when a 24-h dosing regimen was utilized. This unfavorable experience soured some physicians, who have been reluctant to reconsider PE thrombolysis in the 1990s. Fortunately, recently completed clinical trials have taught us many ways to make thrombolytic therapy safer, more streamlined, and more economical (Fig 1).