Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem is swapping out drugs for melting blood clots, by introducing a new catheter that sucks blood clots!
The Heart Institute at Shaare Zedek saved the life of a 76-year-old who suffered from sudden illness of excessive bleeding and dangerous blood clots, by developing a one-of-a-kind innovative device for pumping blood vessels from pulmonary arteries.
The patient arrived at the Intensive Care Unit with large and life-threatening lung erosion, and borderline blood pressure. After a CT was performed of the heart, he was diagnosed with lung embolism. Dr. Elad Asher, Director of the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital, performed a comprehensive examination, and decided to pump of the blood vessels from the heart.
The operation was carried out using a designated catheter at the end of which a special vacuum syringe sucks the blood clots. A multidisciplinary medical team performed this operation—the first of its kind at the hospital.
In a short time, the 76 year-old patient’s condition has stabilized, and she will be able to head home from the hospital. Dr. Asher explains that the disease of excessive bleeding and dangerous blood clots is the third cause of death in the Western world, with a very high mortality due to misdiagnosis, and treatment that is not always successful.
