• Dae Hwan Bae, Won Jae Lee, and Yoon Mi Shin.
• Department of Internal Medicine, Chungbuk National University Hospital, Cheongju, Korea.
• J. Korean Med. Sci. 2020 Aug 24; 35 (33): e267.

BackgroundAcute pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) is a critical cardiopulmonary condition associated with high mortality and morbidity. In massive PTE, recently referred to as high risk PTE, the routine protocol for thrombolysis with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (alteplase) is 100 mg over 2 hours. However, there are concerns about bleeding in patients with low body weight (< 50 kg), elderly patients, and Asians.MethodWe performed a retrospective study in patients who were diagnosed with intermediate or high risk PTE, and who were treated with a fixed dose of alteplase (100 mg) in a single center at Chungbuk National University Hospital between July 2008 and April 2018.ResultsA total of 42 patients were reviewed, 4 patients dropped out, and 38 patients were included in the analysis. There were 18 males (47.4%), and the average age of the patients was 70.68 years (± standard deviation 13.15). Major bleeding was seen in 10/38 patients (26.3%), and 30/38 patients (78.9%) were successfully discharged.ConclusionThe major bleeding risk was higher in our study (26.3%) than in a previously published meta-analysis (9.24%). Therefore, we suggest reducing the dose of alteplase in patients who are elderly, Asian, or have cardiovascular disease. Further prospective studies of efficacy and bleeding rate after low dose alteplase should be considered.© 2020 The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences.

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