Interventional therapy of acute pulmonary embolism: where are we and where are we heading towards?

This life-threatening condition, known as pulmonary embolism, is prevalent throughout the world, affecting a large percentage of population and representing one of the leading causes of cardiovascular death. To reduce mortality and morbidity and improve outcomes, early risk stratification is critical. There is a wide range in the severity of a pulmonary embolism, from mild to life-threatening. When a patient has a high-risk pulmonary embolism and is in shock or cardiac arrest, emergency systemic thrombolysis or embolectomy is reasonable, but anticoagulation alone has great results in low-risk pulmonary embolism. Multiple strategies exist to capture the benefits of thrombolysis while minimizing its risks, but clinical experience with such novel intervention strategies is limited. The pulmonary embolism response team comprises interventional cardiologist, interventional radiologist, cardiac surgeon, cardiac radiologist, and critical care specialist, can help determine the type of intervention in a given patient. This article provides an outline of current endovascular interventional therapies and their context.