Successful intraarterial recombinant tissue plasminogen activator therapy for acute embolic occlusion of the superior mesenteric artery

While there have been multiple reports of catheter-directed thrombolysis with streptokinase or urokinase for thromboembolic occlusion of the superior mesenteric artery (SMA), there has been only one previous report describing SMA thrombolysis using tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA). We present a case of acute embolic occlusion of the SMA initially diagnosed by CT and then successfully treated with selective infusion of rt-PA.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]