Interventional therapies in acute pulmonary embolus—current trends and future directions

Abstract

Venous thromboembolic disease presenting with acute pulmonary embolus (PE) can be treated in a variety of ways from anticoagulation as an outpatient to surgical embolectomy with many new interventional therapies being developed. Mortality in these patients can be as high as 50% and many of these treatments are also considered to be high risk. Early involvement of a multidisciplinary team and patient risk stratification can aid management decisions in these complex patients who can suddenly deteriorate. In this review, we summarise the evidence behind new and developing interventional therapies in the treatment of high and intermediate-high risk PE including catheter-directed thrombolysis, pharmacomechanical thrombolysis, thromboaspiration and the growing role of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in the stabilisation and management of this cohort of patients.