Using lysis therapy to treat five critically ill COVID‐19 patients who show echocardiographic criteria of right ventricular strain

Abstract

Abstract New options for treatment escalation in critically ill COVID‐19 patients are unmet need. Five critically ill patients were treated using a low‐dose protocol thrombolytic therapy in the form of intravenous alteplase infusion over 15 min (0.6 mg/kg). This therapeutic intervention yielded an immediate favorable outcome on follow up and all five patients were extubated and transferred to the ward. This report suggests that bedside echocardiography can be a beneficial tool in the urgent assessment of the right ventricle—to—pulmonary vascular coupling in mechanically ventilated COVID‐19 patients, and thrombolytic therapy may be beneficial in hemodynamically unstable patients who show echocardiographic criteria of right ventricular strain.

Keywords

• COVID‐19
• hemodynamic instability
• lysis therapy
• mechanical ventilation