Rami Tzafriri, Lee-Jae Jack Guo, Benny Muraj, Peter Markham, Curtis Genstler, Joseph Czyscon, Christopher Piere, Christopher Knapp, Elazer R. Edelman. Ultrasound-enhanced clot thrombolysis in a porcine model of pulmonary embolism.

Ultrasound-assisted catheter-directed thrombolysis enhances right ventricular recovery after acute PE, but optimization is limited by lack of good animal models. We developed a porcine model of acute PE for examining local ultrasound-thrombolysis of large autologous clots.

Conclusion: Catheter-directed lysis of autologous porcine clots was enhanced by the addition of ultrasound assistance to local tPA infusion, providing an animal model for therapy optimization.