UMEM Educational Pearls

Title: Got Lytics?

Category: Vascular

Keywords: Pulmonary Embolism (PubMed Search)

Posted: 6/7/2010 by Rob Rogers, MD (Updated: 12/26/2024)
Click here to contact Rob Rogers, MD

Thrombolytic Therapy for Pulmonary Embolism

Current, FDA-approved thrombolytic therapy for PE:

tPA 100 mg over two hours-infusion
Heparin drip should be turned off during tPA infusion and turned back on ONLY after PTT has fallen to 2 X normal
Other drugs are being used-like Tenecteplase (TNKase), but strictly speaking, not FDA approved for thrombolysis of PE
Most studies to date do not show that catheter-based delivery of lytics is safer than systemically administered lytics