Summary
Transcatheter local thrombolytic therapy in patients with acute, extended splanchnic
venous thrombosis is controversial. Here we present our single-center experience with
transcatheter thrombolytic therapy in these patients. All consecutive patients (n=12)
with acute,extended splanchnic venous thrombosis who underwent transcatheter thrombolytic
therapy in our hospital, were included in this study. Thrombolytic therapy was successful
for three thrombotic events and partially successful for four thrombotic events.Two
patients developed minor procedure-related bleeding (17%).Six patients (50%) developed
major procedure-related bleeding, with a fatal outcome in two. Transcatheter thrombolytic
therapy in patients with acute, extended splanchnic vein thrombosis is found to be
associated with a high rate of procedure-related bleeding. Therefore, thrombolysis
should be reserved for patients in whom the venous flow cannot be restored by using
conventional anticoagulant therapy or stent placement across the thrombosed vessel
segment.
H.L.A. Janssen and F.W.G. Leebeek are both Clinical Fellows of the Netherlands Organisation
for Scientific Research (NWO).
Keywords
Thrombosis (venous) - portal vein thrombosis - Budd-Chiari syndrome - thrombolytic
therapy - rtPA