Pulmonary embolism

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is the third leading cardiovascular cause of death after heart attacks and stroke. PE is caused by blood clots in the pulmonary arteries. These are often caused by clots from the venous system, including thrombus from trauma, surgery or deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Treatment has traditionally been systemic use of thrombolytic drugs to dissolve the clot. But in cases there is a massive, life-threatening PE, or chronic clot burden that have remained in a vessel for an extended period of time, mechanical thrombectomy and ultrasound-assisted catheter-directed thrombolysis (USCDT) is being used as more targeted and aggressive treatments.

Pulmonary embolism thrombectomy use increases by more than 700%
Medicare claims submitted between 2017 and 2022 showed a 712% increase in thrombectomy for pulmonary embolism (PE) and a 137% increase in thrombectomy for deep vein thrombosis (DVT).
Key takeaways for interventional cardiology from TCT 2025
B. Hadley Wilson, MD, talked to Cardiovascular Business about several standout late-breaking clinical trials presented at TCT 2025. Topics of those trials included drug-coated balloons, TAVR valve durability, pulmonary embolism treatments and much more.
FDA clears first large-bore, vacuum-assisted pulmonary embolism thrombectomy system
The Symphony Thrombectomy System eliminates tradeoffs between two priorities—leveraging large-bore power and ease of use vs. efficiently reducing clot burden and delivering improved speed.
FDA clears blood clot removal system for treating pulmonary embolism
The Aventus Thrombectomy System was already cleared to treat blood clots in the peripheral arteries. This latest approval comes after positive results from an IDE study were published in JSCAI.
Tiny clot-busting robots could transform care for stroke and heart attack patients
The robots are capable of swimming through a patient’s vascular system and removing blood clots. “It’s unbelievable," one Stanford researcher said. "This is a sea-change technology that will drastically improve our ability to help people.”

Video interview with Sahil Parikh, MD, FSCAI, director of endovascular services, New York-Presbyterian Columbia University Irving Medical Center and associate professor of medicine at Columbia University, who discusses the disparities in PE treatments in the REAL-PE study

REAL-PE highlights disparities in pulmonary embolism care

Sahil Parikh, MD, director of endovascular services, New York-Presbyterian, explains details from the big-data REAL-PE study comparing mechanical thrombectomy to ultrasound assisted catheter thrombolysis.

Video interview with Peter Monteleone, MD, explaining the primary catheter-based interventional tools used to treat pulmonary embolism (PE).

A cardiologist's guide to treating pulmonary embolism

Interventional cardiologist Peter Monteleone, MD, discussed the primary tools used to treat pulmonary embolism in the cath lab.

Video of Peter Monteleone, MD, discusses role of cardiology in pulmonary embolism response teams (PERT). CT image of the heart showing bilateral pulmonary embolism blood clots in the pulmonary arteries leading into the lungs.

Interventional cardiology sees growing role in pulmonary embolism interventions

Peter Monteleone, MD, national director of cardiovascular research at Ascension Health, explains the growing role of interventional cardiology in pulmonary embolism treatment and PERT teams.

Use of CTPA for suspected pulmonary embolism in pregnancy surges 156% at 2 hospitals

Despite the marked increase, there was no corresponding uptick in either positive PE readings or pregnancies, experts detailed.

MR angiography a suitable alternative to CT when ruling out pulmonary embolus

The modality switch became especially important during the iodinated contrast shortage of 2022 when clinics were forced to deploy mitigation tactics as a means of preserving their contrast supply.

How CT creates barrier to treating pulmonary embolism patients in cheaper outpatient settings

Rather than being discharged, low-risk PE patients often receive unnecessary additional services and overnight stays, experts wrote in JAMA.

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AI dramatically reduces radiologists’ rate of missed incidental pulmonary embolism on routine CT

The commercial software also reduced the median detection and notification time for incidental PE in flagged scans from “several days” down to just 1 hour.

Why more pulmonary embolism patients should be considered for surgery

The topic was explored at length in a new scientific statement presented at the 59th Annual Meeting of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

Pulmonary embolism

Pulmonary embolism thrombectomy use increases by more than 700%

Key takeaways for interventional cardiology from TCT 2025

FDA clears first large-bore, vacuum-assisted pulmonary embolism thrombectomy system

FDA clears blood clot removal system for treating pulmonary embolism

Tiny clot-busting robots could transform care for stroke and heart attack patients