White Paper — VTE Care at a Crossroads: Today’s Challenges and Tomorrow’s Breakthroughs 

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) remains one of the most urgent yet underrecognized cardiovascular threats. Despite being the third leading cause of death from cardiovascular disease in the U.S.,¹ affecting nearly 900,000 patients annually, VTE still receives far less attention than other cardiovascular conditions.²

A new white paper, VTE Care at the Crossroads: Today’s Challenges and Tomorrow’s Breakthroughs, explores why this gap persists and what leading clinicians, hospitals, and health systems can do today to transform VTE care. Developed in partnership with Becker’s Healthcare and multidisciplinary experts from the Get Out the Clot initiative,ⁱ the white paper captures candid insights from vascular medicine, interventional radiology, hematology, and emergency medicine.

Multidisciplinary experts include:

• Dr. James F. Benenati, MD, FSIR, chief medical officer for Penumbra, Inc.
• Dr. Jean Connors, MD, chief of cancer hematology at Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston
• Dr. Arjun Jayaraj, MD, a vascular surgeon from The Rane Center in Jackson, Miss.
• Dr. Rachel Rosovsky, MD, a hematologist and clinical investigator from Massachusetts General Hospital
• Dr. Suman Wasan, MD, vascular medicine specialist at UNC Health in Chapel Hill, N.C.
• Dr. Ido Weinberg, MD, a vascular medicine specialist from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston*

Below is a snapshot of what you’ll find inside.

Current Challenges in VTE Care

Even as clinical understanding and imaging capabilities have advanced, the current landscape of VTE care is marked by significant variability. The white paper outlines five defining challenges that continue to hinder timely diagnosis and optimal treatment, and outlines solutions.

1. Fragmented Care and Wide Practice Variability

Institutional protocols vary dramatically — even for patients with similar risk profiles. While low‑risk and high‑risk pathways are relatively clear, intermediate high-risk PE patients remain a gray zone, often receiving inconsistent or delayed interventions.

2. Persistent Misdiagnosis and Underdiagnosis

PE remains “a great masquerader,” presenting with symptoms that can mimic asthma, pneumonia, cancer‑related complications, or simply nonspecific distress. As a result, many PE cases may be missed during initial evaluation.

3. Limited Guidance for Long‑Term Management

Even when patients receive an accurate diagnosis and treatment, there is a lack of evidence and consistent guidance for their long-term care.

4. Gaps in Multidisciplinary Coordination

While literature supports the value of multidisciplinary rapid response teams, such as a PE response team (PERT) — including faster time to treatment, shorter hospital stays, and lower mortality — many hospitals still lack such programs entirely.³

5. Inconsistent Data Collection and Quality Metrics

Without standardized metrics or uniform EHR documentation, institutions struggle to assess outcomes or meaningfully compare performance. This inconsistency makes it difficult to evaluate the impact of new technologies and protocols.

Closing the Gaps: Keys to Improving VTE Care

To move toward a more equitable, coordinated, and evidence-based system of care, the white paper highlights several strategic imperatives and provides guidance on how to achieve them, including:

• Empowering local physician champions
• Establishing multidisciplinary rapid-response teams
• Standardizing protocols and care pathways
• Prioritizing clinician education and public awareness
• Implementing uniform data standards

The white paper features recommendations that reflect consensus insights from experts deeply committed to elevating VTE care nationwide.

Looking Ahead: Technologies Shaping the Future of VTE Treatment

While the challenges are significant, the white paper also highlights extraordinary momentum in the field. New therapies — including mechanical thrombectomy and Computer-Assisted Vacuum Thrombectomy (CAVT™) — are expanding treatment options for patients who previously had limited pathways.

Recent trials, including STORM‑PE,⁴ are demonstrating improved functional outcomes and expanded eligibility for advanced intervention — signaling a turning point for intermediate high-risk patients in particular. Importantly, these studies focus on patient-centered outcomes, a shift long overdue in the literature.

The opportunity to reshape VTE care has never been greater. With emerging technologies, growing clinical evidence, and renewed focus on standardization, healthcare systems have the tools to meaningfully improve patient outcomes.

The white paper offers practical, actionable steps for hospitals of all sizes to begin closing current care gaps and preparing for the next era of VTE treatment.

Read the Full White Paper

Explore expert perspectives, real-world challenges, and actionable strategies to elevate VTE care.

Download VTE Care at the Crossroads.

Important Safety Information

Additional information about Penumbra’s products can be located on Penumbra’s website at: https://www.penumbrainc.com/products/peripheral-thrombectomy-cavt/. The clinical results presented herein are for informational purposes only, and may not be predictive for all patients. Individual results may vary depending on patient-specific attributes and other factors. Caution: Federal (USA) law restricts these devices to sale by or on the order of a physician. Prior to use, please refer to Instructions for Use (IFU) for complete product indications, contraindications, warnings, precautions, potential adverse events, and detailed instructions for use. For the complete Penumbra IFU Summary Statements, visit: peninc.info/risk. Please contact your local Penumbra representative for more information.

Copyright ©2026 Penumbra, Inc. All rights reserved. CAVT is a registered trademark or trademarks of Penumbra, Inc. in the USA and other countries.

*Dr. Weinberg sadly passed away earlier this year. This article reflects a conversation among medical professionals that took place in 2025. We are grateful for Dr. Weinberg’s contributions to that discussion.

^{1. Goldhaber SZ, Bounameaux H. Pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis. Lancet. 2012 May 12;379(9828):1835-46. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(11)61904-1. Epub 2012 Apr 10. PMID: 22494827.
2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Data and statistics on venous thromboembolism (blood clots). Updated January 27, 2025. Accessed March 25, 2026. https://www.cdc.gov/blood-clots/data-research/facts-stats/index.html [cdc.gov].
3 Gardner, T. A., et al. “Reduced Mortality Associated with Pulmonary Embolism Response Team Consultation for Intermediate and High-Risk Pulmonary Embolism: A Retrospective Cohort Study.” Thrombosis Journal, vol. 22, 2024, article 38. BioMed Central, doi: 10.1186/s12959-024-00605-8.
4 Lookstein, R. A., et al. “Randomized Controlled Trial of Mechanical Thrombectomy with Anticoagulation versus Anticoagulation Alone for Acute Intermediate-High Risk Pulmonary Embolism: Primary Outcomes from the STORM-PE Trial.” Circulation, vol. 153, no. 1, 2025, American Heart Association, doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.125.077232.}

i. Get Out the Clot is a collaborative educational initiative uniting experts in venous thromboembolism (VTE) care to help identify gaps in patient care related to blood clot conditions, including standardizing care and expanding access to the latest innovations to improve patient outcomes. The campaign is led by the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis, National Blood Clot Alliance, Penumbra, Inc., The PERT Consortium™, and the Society for Vascular Medicine.