Procedure improves blood clot treatment

SALT LAKE CITY — Medical science has the ability to encourage extraordinary remedies to help patients suffering from a variety of ailments, but some of those therapies can also create problems that require even more advanced treatment.

Such was the case with Amy Steed.

In June of last year, the Riverton stay-at-home mom was prescribed a medication, intended to prevent ovarian cysts from rupturing, that caused a major blood clot in her leg, swelling so much that she wound up in the emergency room in September.

Steed also found out she suffered from a rare condition that causes "kinks" in arterial veins that additionally restrict blood flow.

"(My leg) started to swell, and my whole leg was turning purple and red," she said. "My left leg was just ballooned … a third bigger than what it was originally."

After she initially underwent an ultrasound, doctors were unable to determine the cause of her ailment. And when the pain and swelling continued, she had a CAT scan that revealed a blood clot.

Steed was then diagnosed with deep-vein thrombosis, or DVT, which commonly affects leg veins or the deep veins of the pelvis.

While previously the traditional treatment for clots often involved taking blood-thinning medication, technology has advanced greatly in the past couple of years, according to interventional radiologist Peter Hathaway.

Treatment now involves using the new Trellis catheter device, which isolates the clot with inflatable "balloons" to deliver the drugs that quickly break up and remove the clot. This method not only prevents potentially fatal pulmonary embolisms but can also restore the leg to full health.

"For people who have big, bulky clots … we go in and kind of 'Roto-Rooter' the clot out to dissolve the clot away and get them back to normal," Hathaway said.

Recovery, in most cases, takes only a few days, he said.

Hathaway noted that patients who previously had to deal with enlarged legs for the rest of their lives — even after treatment with medication — could now enjoy a much higher quality of life, thanks to use of the new catheter procedure.

"People still have to be on blood thinners for about six months … to make sure they don't reclot," Hathaway said. "But it's designed to take all the clot out and preserve all the valves and veins and preserve normal function."

In Steed's case, she spent six days in the hospital, and Hathaway also inserted a stent in her vein to prevent it from kinking.

Steed said that since the procedure, her leg has returned to its original size and function. Knowing that treatment for her condition might have previously required a stay in intensive care as well as permanent leg damage, Steed is grateful to have avoided that fate.

"Even if they were able to take care of it with (medication), you were still stuck with a fat leg the rest of your life," she said.

Instead, for Steed, the procedure was unexpectedly mild.

"The size of the incision was like a pinhead," she said. "It was this teeny, tiny little hole.

"It's amazing what they are able to do with all that technology."

e-mail: jlee@desnews.com