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Review
. 2025 May 5;21(9):e450-e462.
doi: 10.4244/EIJ-D-24-00535.

Catheter-based techniques for pulmonary embolism treatment

Francesco Costa  1   2 , Pablo Salinas  3 , Mario Iannaccone  4 , Enrico Cerrato  5   6 , Daniel Tébar Márquez  7 , Shantum Misra  8   9 , Felix Götzinger  10   11 , Gabriele Carciotto  2 , Salvatore Silipigni  2 , Victor Manuel Becerra-Muñoz  1 , Marco Mennuni  12 , Alberto Stagno  2 , Antonio Bottari  2 , Marco Pavani  5   6 , Ferdinando Varbella  5   6 , Juan Horacio Alonso-Briales  1 , Alfonso Jurado-Román  7 , Eric A Secemsky  8   9 , Felix Mahfoud  10   12 , Antonio Micari  2
Affiliations
Review

Catheter-based techniques for pulmonary embolism treatment

Francesco Costa et al. EuroIntervention. .

Abstract

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a life-threatening condition characterised by occlusion of the pulmonary vasculature, with a global incidence of approximately 1 in 1,000 patients. While pharmacological therapy remains the cornerstone of PE management, selected patients may benefit from catheter-directed treatments due to their potential for rapid symptom relief and swift haemodynamic stabilisation. Catheter-directed thrombolysis and catheter-directed mechanical thrombectomy are current treatment options, though their availability is still limited. This review provides a practical outlook on catheter-directed therapies for PE, outlining optimal procedural planning, device selection, technical execution, evaluation of results, and management of complications.

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Conflict of interest statement

F. Götzinger is supported by the German Foundation for Heart Research (Deutsche Herzstiftung); and has received speaker honoraria from AstraZeneca. E.A. Secemsky has received grants to his institution from Abbott/CSI, BD, Boston Scientific, Cook, Medtronic, and Philips; additionally, he has received speaker honoraria and consulting fees from Abbott/CSI, BD, BMS, Boston Scientific, Cagent, Conavi, Cook, Cordis, Endovascular Engineering, Gore, InfraRedx, Medtronic, Philips, RapidAI, Rampart, Shockwave Medical, Siemens, Terumo, Thrombolex, VentureMed, and Zoll. F. Mahfoud is supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kardiologie (DGK), Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB TRR219, Project-ID 322900939), and Deutsche Herzstiftung; his institution, Saarland University, has received scientific support from Ablative Solutions, Medtronic, and Recor Medical; he has also received speaker honoraria and consulting fees from Ablative Solutions, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Inari Medical, Medtronic, Merck, Recor Medical, Servier, and Terumo. A. Jurado-Román is a proctor for Abbott, Boston Scientific, World Medica, and Philips; has received consulting fees from Boston Scientific and Philips; and has received speaker fees from Abbott, Boston Scientific, Shockwave Medical, Philips, and World Medica. The other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

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