Urokinase Treatment In Acute And Subacute Deep Vein Thrombosis
So far 74 patients with acute and subacute Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) were treated with a standardized Urokinase (UK) heparin scheme. From these patients 19 patients had a 1-6 day and 55 patients a 1-6 week old thrombosis of the iliac, femoral, popliteal or subclavian veins. The initial dose of the UK regimen was mostly 250.000 IU UK/10 min; the maintenance dose was 1.000.000 IU UK/24h in 40 patients, 1.500.000 IU UK/24h in 12 patients and 2.000.000 IU UK/24h in 22 patients. Heparin was given from the very beginning, starting with a dose of 1.000 IU/h. In the further course of therapy heparin was adjusted so that the thrombin time was 2 to 4 times of the normal. The duration of fibrinolytic therapy was mostly between 3 and 6 days in acute and between 7 and 14 days in subacute DVT. Severe side effects were seen in 2 patients, who had a strong bleeding. One patient died of pulmonary embolism.Results: The 1-6 day old thromboses of the 19 patients could be dissolved completely in 7 patients (37%) and partially in 4 patients (21%); no amelioration in the phlebo- grams was found in 8 patients (42%). The 1-6 week old thromboses of the 55 patients could be dissolved completely in 9 patients (16%) and partially in 30 patients (55%); no amelioration in the phlebograms was found in 16 patients (29%).Conclusion: The standardized UK-heparin scheme with a medium dose 80.000 IU UK/h used by us proved to be effective in most patients with DVT.