Fort Walton Beach Medical Center introduces treatment of vascular thrombosis using the 
EkoSonic® Endovascular System (EKOS®) with Acoustic Pulse Thrombolysis™. This treatment is designed to quickly dissolve a blood clot (thrombus) and restore blood flow – while reducing risk to the patient. Like other leading institutions around the world, Fort Walton Beach Medical Center’s interventional radiologists, cardiologists, vascular and cardiothoracic surgeons use this new system to provide faster, safer and more complete dissolution of thrombus.
How It Works:
This new treatment uses ultrasound in combination with a thrombolytic drug to quickly, safely and effectively dissolve thrombus. This is achieved through two mechanisms of action:
Fibrin Separation: The ultrasonic waves condition the clot by thinning and separating the fibrin strands, exposing plasminogen receptor sites which are embedded in the thrombus. As a result, thrombus permeability and lytic penetration are dramatically increased.
Active Drug Delivery: The Infusion Catheter delivers the lytic drug within the blood clot, while the ultrasound energy creates a pressure gradient that gently distributes the clot-dissolving drug deep into the thrombus and keeps it there.
The combined effect of the two mechanisms is to saturate the thrombus with the lytic which results in rapidly dissolved blood clots.
Benefits Of Treatment:
The therapy offers significant benefits over other methods of treatment.
– The addition of ultrasound shortens treatment time due to faster lytic uptake
– Provides a greater incidence of complete disintegration of the cell with a reduction in bleeding rates.
“The one undeniable fact about thrombus: the sooner it is safely dissolved and blood flow is restored, the better it is for the patient. That is why Fort Walton Beach Medical Center chose this new system as the new standard of care for dissolving thrombus,” stated Mitch Mongell, CEO of Fort Walton Beach Medical Center.
