Percutaneous thrombectomy for pulmonary embolism.

The current treatment of massive pulmonary embolism (PE) has been either thrombolysis or surgical embolectomy. Percutaneous rheolytic thrombectomy, however, has emerged as an alternative treatment in patients with contraindications to thrombolysis. This case illustrates the usefulness of the AngioJet(R) thrombectomy catheter in patients with contraindications to thrombolytics. Three-dimensional computed tomography imaging demonstrated the effectiveness of treatment in this patient with massive PE.