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Ultrasound-Accelerated Thrombolysis: An Interview with Robert J. Kennedy, MD
This year, Dr. Kennedy presented a retrospective review of 60 patients, a continuation of the presentation from 2012, which involved 40 patients.
Many of the conclusions are reaffirmed in this year’s study, which looked at 90-day survival. There was a significant decrease in pulmonary artery pressure after treating patients with ultrasound-accelerated thrombolysis. There was also a significant decrease in thrombus burden. In the submassive PE group, which was 48 out of 60 patients, 47 of 48 were alive at 90 days, and in the massive PE group, 9 out of 12 were alive at 90 days. Overall, that’s a 93% survival rate at 90 days, which compares favorably to what’s in the literature, said Dr. Kennedy.
This is an update to information presented at last year's ISET conference. See the video "Dr. Robert J. Kennedy Described His Study of Ultrasound Accelerated Thrombolysis for the Treatment of Acute PE at ISET 2012" for more on this technique.
At the 2013 International Symposium on Endovascular Therapy meeting, Robert J. Kennedy, MD, gave a presentation describing updated results for a study on treatment for pulmonary embolism (PE) that evaluated the safety and success of catheter-directed ultrasound-accelerated thrombolysis (USAT) for massive and submassive PE. The study retrospectively reviewed consecutive acute PE patients treated between October 2009 and April 2012 in a single center treated using anticoagulation and the EkoSonic Endovascular System (EKOS Corporation). Here Dr. Kennedy discusses use of the treatment as well as a case example of USAT used in a patient.
