New Treatment For Pulmonary Embolism

A new treatment for PE's is causing a stir in the medical community.  It seems a catheter system that injects medication while stimulating a clot with ultrasound waves has proven very effective in treating this potentially life threatening condition.

In traditional therapy, thrombolytic drugs are delivered to the blockage, but the method can take many hours or even days. In the ultrasound method, the device (EkoSonic System, Ekos) is advanced through the femoral artery to the clot, where it emits sound waves that loosen the clot, allowing the thrombolytic drugs to dissolve it faster. The system has received a CE mark and FDA approval for treatment of peripheral arterial disease, and recently received a CE mark for use in PEs.

http://www.cardiovascularbusiness.com/index.php?option=com_articles&view=article&id=25867:iset-feature-ultrasound-assisted-thrombolysis-for-pe-shows-promise