Ultrasound-assisted catheter-directed thrombolysis versus anticoagulation alone for management of submassive pulmonary embolism

Meta-Analysis Comparing Catheter-Directed Thrombolysis Versus Systemic Anticoagulation Alone for Submassive Pulmonary Embolism

“…Many previous single studies found differences in in-hospital mortality to be statistically insignificant. 10,12,16,18,19,22 Perhaps because of the small magnitude of the difference, only the largest included study, involving 8,170 propensity-matched patients (1,260 [15%] CDT, 6,910 [85%] SA) with sPE identified from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, individually revealed significantly lower in-hospital mortality with CDT when administered within the first 3 days compared with SA (2.4% vs 6.4%, p <0.0001). 11 CDT was also associated with lower 30day and 90-day mortality with a tendency toward lower 1-year mortality and improved RV recovery compared with SA.…”