S wave in Pulmonary Embolism, a new ECG sign to aid thrombolysis

Acute pulmonary embolism is a devastating disease that often leads to mortality . Previous investigators have found that thrombolysis reduces mortality in men but not significantly in women with pulmonary embolism. Many of the previous studies are with tenecteplase and alteplase. Here, we describe intra - venous thrombolysis with streptokinase in seven patients with pulmonary embolism who survived including two women. Further, we have one patient who had a new onset of S wave in lead I which subsequently disappeared after embolectomy. We also comment on the usefulness of shock sign in 2 deciding on thrombolysis .We propose a new sign for noninvasive assessment of need for thrombolysis in pulmonary embolism. New onset S wave in Lead I in pulmonary embolism can be used as a new sign for deciding the need for thrombolysis. When added to the shock sign it can be used in the emergency deparment to decide the need for thrombolysis. Further, there are no clear end points as to when to stop thrombolysis. In all 4 patients we switched to heparin when spontaneous bleeding or oozing started. In all 4 patients subsequent CT scans showed that the patient has mild to moderate resolution of the pulmonary embolism and patients remained stable and have been discharged and are under regular follow up. Hence we propose that bleeding can be used as an end point for thrombolysis in acute pulmonary embolism. We also describe a patient who had new onset S wave that disappeared after successful pulmonary embolectomy. Probably, the S wave is a marker of main pulmonary artery branch occlusions.