Systemic thrombolysis for acute pulmonary embolism

Repeated Thrombolytic Treatment for Recurrent Pulmonary Thromboembolism: A Report of 2 Cases and a Literature Review

We present 2 cases of pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE). The first case, a 50-year-old man, was admitted to the emergency department because of sudden onset dyspnea and left side chest pain. He was diagnosed with intermediate-risk (submassive) PTE, and thrombolytic treatment was commenced. The patient fully recovered, but 5 days later, he was diagnosed with a new, high-risk PTE. The second patient, a 23-year-old woman, presented with syncope, dyspnea, and chest pain for 2 days. She was diagnosed with high-risk (massive) PTE. Thrombolytic treatment was commenced, and the patient fully recovered, too. But the later patient was also diagnosed with a new PTE 4 days later. We applied repeated thrombolytic treatment in the patients due to repeated PTE. The first patient fully recovered and was discharged from the hospital, but the second patient died because of gastrointestinal bleeding and renal insufficiency. A repeated thrombolytic treatment could be an alternative treatment for these patients, considering treatment's risks.