Association Between Antithrombotic Treatments and Prognosis of Patients With Acute Pulmonary Thromboembolism in Japan

The utility of thrombolysis in patients with acute pulmonary thromboembolism (APTE) remains controversial, although anticoagulation therapy for APTE is well-established in Western countries. Nonetheless, large clinical trials of antithrombotic treatments for APTE have yet to be performed in Japan. In the present study, the association between antithrombotic treatments (thrombolysis and anticoagulation) and the clinical outcomes was retrospectively investigated in 225 APTE patients. In-hospital mortality was significantly lower in hemodynamically stable patients who received anticoagulation therapy than in those who received no adequate therapy (0% vs 33%). Thrombolysis in patients with or without cardiogenic shock failed to improve the in-hospital outcomes compared with those who received anticoagulation treatment (8% vs 3%). There was no significant difference in the bleeding rate between patients receiving thrombolysis and anticoagulation (3% vs 3%). These results indicate that anticoagulation could reduce the mortality of hemodynamically stable APTE patients and that the outcome after thrombolysis or anticoagulation treatment was similar. However, this study was limited because it was executed retrospectively. Further prospective randomized trials to investigate the efficacy of thrombolysis in Japan should be performed to completely address this issue.