BACKGROUND: Thrombolytic therapy is still not used widely for treatment of deep vein thrombosis despite its known efficacy. This reluctance to use it stems from worries about its hemorrhagic complications. METHODS: In a 4-year period 97 patients with deep vein thrombosis diagnosed by duplex study were enrolled into the study. Fifty patients received streptokinase as a bolus of 250,000 units followed by 100,000 units/hr with a maximum of 4,000,000 units and 47 patients received anticoagulation with heparin. RESULTS: Minor hemorrhagic complications occurred in 2 patients (4%) in the thrombolytic therapy group. An improvement in the control duplex study was observed in 56% of the patients in the thrombolytic therapy group compared to 5% in the heparin group (p=0.000). The patients treated within 4 days of onset of symptoms had significantly higher success rates compared to those treated later (p=0.000). Higher success rates were obtained for those with either femoral vein or more distal venous thrombosis compared to those with iliac vein and vena cava thrombosis (p=0.007). These results show that systemic low dose streptokinase achieves significantly higher recanalization rates compared to heparin alone. CONCLUSIONS: Hemorrhagic complications at these dose levels are within acceptable ranges. Low dose streptokinase regimen could be beneficial in patients who present within 4 days of femoral or more distal venous thrombosis.
BACKGROUND: Thrombolytic therapy is still not used widely for treatment of deep vein thrombosis despite its known efficacy. This reluctance to use it stems from worries about its hemorrhagic complications. METHODS: In a 4-year period 97 patients with deep vein thrombosis diagnosed by duplex study were enrolled into the study. Fifty patients received streptokinase as a bolus of 250,000 units followed by 100,000 units/hr with a maximum of 4,000,000 units and 47 patients received anticoagulation with heparin. RESULTS: Minor hemorrhagic complications occurred in 2 patients (4%) in the thrombolytic therapy group. An improvement in the control duplex study was observed in 56% of the patients in the thrombolytic therapy group compared to 5% in the heparin group (p=0.000). The patients treated within 4 days of onset of symptoms had significantly higher success rates compared to those treated later (p=0.000). Higher success rates were obtained for those with either femoral vein or more distal venous thrombosis compared to those with iliac vein and vena cava thrombosis (p=0.007). These results show that systemic low dose streptokinase achieves significantly higher recanalization rates compared to heparin alone. CONCLUSIONS:Hemorrhagic complications at these dose levels are within acceptable ranges. Low dose streptokinase regimen could be beneficial in patients who present within 4 days of femoral or more distal venous thrombosis.
Authors: Ariel Izcovich; Juan M Criniti; Federico Popoff; Liming Lu; Jiaming Wu; Walter Ageno; Daniel M Witt; Michael R Jaff; Sam Schulman; Veena Manja; Peter Verhamme; Gabriel Rada; Yuqing Zhang; Robby Nieuwlaat; Wojtek Wiercioch; Holger J Schünemann; Ignacio Neumann Journal: Blood Adv Date: 2020-04-14
Authors: Thomas L Ortel; Ignacio Neumann; Walter Ageno; Rebecca Beyth; Nathan P Clark; Adam Cuker; Barbara A Hutten; Michael R Jaff; Veena Manja; Sam Schulman; Caitlin Thurston; Suresh Vedantham; Peter Verhamme; Daniel M Witt; Ivan D Florez; Ariel Izcovich; Robby Nieuwlaat; Stephanie Ross; Holger J Schünemann; Wojtek Wiercioch; Yuan Zhang; Yuqing Zhang Journal: Blood Adv Date: 2020-10-13