Repeated phlebographic examination during and after fibrinolytic therapy with streptokinase and urokinase.

Forty-three patients with deep vein thrombosis were given fibrinolytic therapy with streptokinase and/or urokinase. In all patients the diagnosis was made phlebographically, and repeat phlebography was performed after termination of therapy. Sixty-four of 104 vein segments initially occluded (62%) were partially or completely recanalized. No vein segments particularly suitable for fibrinolytic therapy could be defined. The therapy was as successful in cases in which the thrombosis extended over several segments as in those in which the occlusions involved only one or two segments. Similarly, there was no difference in the success rate for thrombi that were still freely floating and for thrombi that occluded the veins completely. It is recommended that fibrinolytic therapy be given in suitable cases in which clinical symptoms have persisted up to two weeks; in some cases this limit may even be extended up to one month.