Emory University Researchers Say Ultrasound Promising Treatment for DVT

At the recent annual VEITH symposium in New York, Emory University researchers revealed that ultrasound machine waves may be the next big thing in treated deep vein thrombosis, or DVT.

DVT is a blood clot that has formed in one of the larger veins of the body. Blood clots can then break off and travel through the bloodstream. If it lands in the lungs it can cause a pulmonary embolism; in the heart, a heart attack; and in the brain, a stroke. In fact, blood clots are the main cause of heart attacks and of strokes. The most frequent locations of DVT are the calf or thigh. You can be at risk for a DVT if you sit without moving for a long time, recently had surgery, fell or broke a bone, were in a car crash, or are a woman who is taking birth control pills, pregnant, or menopausal. Seniors over the age of 65 and smokers are at higher risk as well.

The more quickly the clot in a DVT can be dissolved, the less risk a patient has of injury and death. Until now, treatment for DVT has often involved either surgical removal of the clot or the use of clot dissolving medications, such as tPA (tissue plasminogen activator) or heparin.

Karthikeshwar Kasirajan, assistant professor of surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, reported that using ultrasound waves to loosen the proteins in the blood clots allowed tPA medication to penetrate into the clots faster for quicker resolution during their testing. “We now know that using ultrasound, along with the traditional method of using drugs to break up or dissolve blood clots, will help restore flow, prevent valve damage and also prevent the possibility of pulmonary embolism,” Kasirajan said. Patients in the test either had DVT or acute in-situ arterial thrombosis. There were 37 patients involved in the study.

This is a promising new use for ultrasound. With its use as a diagnostic tool well established, we are now finding many ways in which ultrasound machine waves can be used to treat diseases, sometimes the very diseases which they helped diagnose.

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