Successful Thrombolysis of Acute Upper Limb Ischemia Using Ekosonic Endovascular System Ultrasound Catheter in a Patient With Atrial Fibrillation

Acute upper limb ischemia is considered a vascular emergency. These events are mostly thromboembolic and are often detected in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Surgical thrombectomy and percutaneous mechanical thrombectomy are the usual methods to treat this medical emergency. In this case, we report the case of a 75-years old woman with a history of AF who initially presented to our center because of syncope resulting from Torsades de pointes due to a known long-QT syndrome. Those episodes were treated adequately from the implanted ICD. In addition to the symptoms of syncope, the patient also noted symptoms of right upper-limb ischemia. Using duplex sonography, we noticed a thrombotic occlusion at the level of the axillary artery. Using femoral access, we performed an antegrade angiography of the axillary artery, which confirmed a fresh thrombotic occlusion. The initially performed thrombus aspiration wasn't successful, and the decision was made to use an ekosonic endovascular system (Ekosonic ™ Endovascular System, Boston Scientific, EKOS) catheter to perform catheter-directed thrombolysis. Locally, 10 mg Actilyse were administrated. Then an EKOS Catheter was delivered to the occlusion area and was placed for 6 h. Symptoms of ischemia were resolved, and the angiographic control showed normal flow in the axillary artery. The patient was discharged without any local deficits of the right hand.