• David Planer, Stav Yanko, Ilan Matok, Ora Paltiel, Rama Zmiro, Victoria Rotshild, Offer Amir, Gabby Elbaz-Greener, and Bruria Hirsh Raccah.
• Department of Cardiology, Hadassah Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine (Planer, Amir, Elbaz-Greener, Raccah) Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel; Division of Clinical Pharmacy, Institute for Drug Research, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine (Yanko, Matok, Zmiro, Rotshild, Raccah), Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel; Braun School of Public Health and Department of Hematology, Faculty of Medicine (Paltiel), Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.
• CMAJ. 2023 Jun 19; 195 (24): E833E843E833-E843.

BackgroundTherapeutic options for intermediate- or high-risk pulmonary embolism (PE) include anticoagulation, systemic thrombolysis and catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT); however, the role of CDT remains controversial. We sought to compare the efficacy and safety of CDT with other therapeutic options using network meta-analysis.MethodsWe searched PubMed (MEDLINE), Embase, ClinicalTrials.gov and Cochrane Library from inception to Oct. 18, 2022. We included randomized controlled trials and observational studies that compared therapeutic options for PE, including anticoagulation, systemic thrombolysis and CDT among patients with intermediate- or high-risk PE. The efficacy outcome was in-hospital death. Safety outcomes included major bleeding, intracerebral hemorrhage and minor bleeding.ResultsWe included data from 44 studies, representing 20 006 patients. Compared with systemic thrombolysis, CDT was associated with a decreased risk of death (odd ratio [OR] 0.43, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.32-0.57), intracerebral hemorrhage (OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.29-0.64), major bleeding (OR 0.61, 95% CI 0.53-0.70) and blood transfusion (OR 0.46, 95% CI 0.28-0.77). However, no difference in minor bleeding was observed between the 2 therapeutic options (OR 1.11, 95% CI 0.66-1.87). Compared with anticoagulation, CDT was also associated with decreased risk of death (OR 0.36, 95% CI 0.25-0.52), with no increased risk of intracerebral hemorrhage (OR 1.33, 95% CI 0.63-2.79) or major bleeding (OR 1.24, 95% CI 0.88-1.75).InterpretationWith moderate certainty of evidence, the risk of death and major bleeding complications was lower with CDT than with systemic thrombolysis. Compared with anticoagulation, CDT was associated with a probable lower risk of death and a similar risk of intracerebral hemorrhage, with moderate certainty of evidence. Although these findings are largely based on observational data, CDT may be considered as a first-line therapy in patients with intermediate- or high-risk PE.Protocol RegistrationPROSPERO - CRD42020182163.© 2023 CMA Impact Inc. or its licensors.

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