Association between reperfusion therapy and outcomes in patients with acute pulmonary embolism and right heart thrombi
Abstract
Right heart thrombi (RHT) may be detected in < 4% of patients with pulmonary embolism (PE) and are associated with worse outcomes. Given the limited existing evidence, society guidelines or consensus statements have either not addressed the management of HRT or have based their recommendations on prior case report, case series or pooled results of case series.
It is plausible that reperfusion strategies reduce the adverse outcomes in PE patients with HRT; thrombolysis may dissolve the HRT and emboli, while thrombectomy might reduce the thromboembolic burden. Using the data from RIETE (Registro Informatizado Enfermedad TromboEmbolica), a prospective international venous thromboembolism registry, we sought to compare the outcomes of patients with PE and coexisting RHT, with versus withour reperfusion therapy.