Rivaroxaban plus Percutaneous catheter-directed treatment for a patient with massive pulmonary embolism and colporrhagia

Massive pulmonary embolism (PE) is defined by acute PE with sustained systemic arterial hypotension that is below 90 mm Hg for at least 15 min or requires inotropic agents (Jaff et al., 2011). For patients with absolute contraindications to thrombolysis, interventional treatment requires the removal of obstructing thrombi from the main pulmonary arteries to facilitate RV recovery and improve symptoms and survival (European Respiratory Society et al., 2014). For patients with acute PE, anticoagulation is recommended, with the objective of preventing both early death and recurrent symptomatic or fatal VTE. Rivaroxaban, an oral factor Xa inhibitor and a new oral anticoagulants, shows effective anticoagulation within hours of administration. It has a fixed-dose regimen, and requires no laboratory monitoring (EINSTEIN-PE Investigators et al., 2012). However, the efficacy and safety of rivaroxaban plus catheter-directed treatment for massive PE and bleeding is unknown. This case demonstrated that a combination of catheter-directed treatment and rivaroxaban was safe and effective in for the treatment of severe PE with vaginal bleeding.