Nationwide Trends in Use of Catheter-Directed Therapy for Treatment of Pulmonary Embolism in Medicare Beneficiaries from 2004 to 2016

Purpose To evaluate changes in the use of catheter-directed therapy (CDT) for pulmonary embolism (PE) treatment with attention to primary operator specialty in the Medicare population. Methods Using a 5% national sample of Medicare claims data from 2004 to 2016, all claims associated with PE were identified. The annual volume of 2 billable CDT services—arterial mechanical thrombectomy and transcatheter arterial infusion for thrombolysis—were...