Emergent treatment of acute embolic superior mesenteric ischemia with combination of thrombolysis and angioplasty: report of two cases.

We successfully revascularized the acutely occluded superior mesenteric artery (SMA), caused by a thromboembolus, with a combination of thrombolysis and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) in 2 patients. Considerable percent luminal reduction (>90%) was still observed after thrombolysis in both patients. Subsequent adjunctive balloon angioplasty produced sufficient luminal diameter of the SMA (<20% luminal reduction).