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Novel treatment (new drug/intervention; established drug/procedure in new situation)
Case report
Catheter-directed thrombolysis to treat acute pulmonary thrombosis in a patient with COVID-19 pneumonia
  1. Laura Pendower1,
  2. Giulia Benedetti1,
  3. Karen Breen2 and
  4. Narayan Karunanithy3,4
  1. 1Department of Radiology, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
  2. 2Centre for Thrombosis & Haemophilia, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
  3. 3Department of Interventional Radiology, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
  4. 4School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Narayan Karunanithy; Narayan.Karunanithy{at}gstt.nhs.uk

Abstract

We describe a case of a patient who presented to the emergency department with severe shortness of breath and was diagnosed with mild COVID-19 pneumonia and concomitant intermediate-high risk saddle pulmonary thromboembolism. Additionally, the patient had sustained a significant head injury 2 days prior due to a syncopal episode. The patient was treated successfully with catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT). The case highlights the importance of considering thromboembolic complications in COVID-19 infection, independent of the severity of the associated pneumonia. The case also demonstrates the potential benefit of CDT in treating COVID-19-related thromboembolism.

  • haematology (incl blood transfusion)
  • pneumonia (infectious disease)
  • interventional radiology
  • radiology
  • pulmonary embolism

This article is made freely available for use in accordance with BMJ’s website terms and conditions for the duration of the covid-19 pandemic or until otherwise determined by BMJ. You may use, download and print the article for any lawful, non-commercial purpose (including text and data mining) provided that all copyright notices and trade marks are retained.

https://bmj.com/coronavirus/usage

https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2020-237046

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    Footnotes

    • Twitter @narayan_karu

    • Contributors LP has written the article, with reviews and edits by GB, NK and KB. The patient was under the joint care of KB and NK, NK performed the operation.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent for publication Obtained.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.