Interventional treatment of pulmonary embolism - where do we currently stand?

Acute pulmonary embolism is the third most common cause of cardiovascular mortality in the world. The sudden pressure overload of the right ventricle, caused by the thrombotic masses in the pulmonary artery, may quickly progress to profound cardiogenic shock. That results in a mortality rate of more than 50% in patients with a massive form of pulmonary embolism. In such cases, systemic fibrinolysis is warranted, which leads to rapid improvement of the right ventricular function and hemodynamic stabilization. The thrombolytic effect of systemic fibrinolysis is, unfortunately, accompanied by an almost 5 times increased risk of bleeding, especially intracranial one. Therefore, in most cases, for patients with uncompromised hemodynamics, only anticoagulation treatment is offered. Interventional treatment of acute pulmonary embolism consists of the usage of very low-dose fibrinolytic devices or percutaneous thrombus aspiration devices. The goal is to provide rapid removal of the thrombotic masses from the pulmonary artery circulation while keeping the hemorrhagic risk at a minimum. This paper will try to provide a concise review of the most widely used and available devices, together with the latest clinical data, supporting their use. Also, the future perspectives in the field of endovascular treatment of acute pulmonary embolism will be presented.