[Successful treatment of superior mesenteric artery thrombosis with local high-dose urokinase therapy].

A 56 year old man presented with increasing abdominal pain. He suffered from arterial occlusive disease with occlusion of the right A. iliaca communis. Angiography revealed partial thrombotic occlusion of the superior mesenteric artery. Urokinase (UK) at a dose of 150 IU/kg X minutes and heparin (1,000 U/h) was infused through the 7F angiographic catheter for 180 minutes. After 70 min of treatment, angiography showed improvement, and after 120 min the thrombus was nearly completely lysed. A stenosis of approximately 50% was still present after 180 min. Two hours after treatment the patient was pain free without analgesics. Laboratory studies showed systemic fibrinogenolysis, but fibrinogen was still within the upper normal range. Only slight systemic fibrinolytic activity (less than 5 IU UK/ml) could be determined. However, alpha 2-antiplasmin was depleted. The catheter was drawn 15 h after thrombolysis without bleeding. While under concurrent heparin and phenprocoumon therapy, the patient developed an infected gluteal hematoma as a result of i.m. injections prior to this treatment. A repeat angiography approximately one month after thrombolysis revealed further improvement and patency. The patient is well and free of abdominal angina and under oral anticoagulant therapy.