A team of US researchers, led by experts from the [b]Perelman School of Medicine[/b] at the [b]University of Pennsylvania[/b] have found that adding clot-busting medications known as thrombolytics to conventional approaches when treating sudden-onset pulmonary embolism patients is associated with 47% fewer deaths than using standard intravenous or under-the-skin anticoagulant medications alone, bringing clarity to a decades-long debate. [s]Health-Canal[/s] reports that the meta-analysis of 16 published, randomised, controlled trials over the past 40 years assessed 2,115 pulmonary embolism patients, approximately half of whom received both thrombolysis and conventional anticoagulation treatment, namely IV-administered and injectable blood-thinners such as heparin; and half of whom only received the conventional treatment.
[link url=http://www.healthcanal.com/blood-heart-circulation/52097-penn-medicine-study-shows-clot-busting-drugs-reduce-deaths-from-pulmonary-embolism-by-nearly-half.html]Full Health-Canal report[/link]
[link url=http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1881311&resultClick=3]JAMA abstract[/link]