Summary:Background: Rheolytic thrombectomy (RT) for acute iliofemoral deep vein thrombosis (DVT) with fi rst-generation techniques is often incomplete and adjunctive conventional catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT) is required in more than half of patients to achieve venous patency. Patients and methods: From the prospective Bern Venous Stent Registry, we investigated rates of primary treatment success, primary patency, and post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS) from 40 consecutive patients (mean age 51 ± 19 years, 45 % women) with acute iliofemoral DVT, treated with a novel directional RT technology and stent placement. Overall, 24 patients were treated for native-vessel iliofemoral DVT (11 with single-session RT, 13 with bailout RT after failed CDT) and 16 for iliofemoral stent thrombosis. Pulse-spray thrombolysis (r-tPA 10 mg) was performed in 29 (73 %) patients. The mean follow-up duration was 193 ± 132 days (minimum 90 days). Results: Overall, primary treatment success of RT was 95 %; only two patients required adjunctive CDT to restore patency. In 24 patients with native-vessel DVT, six-month primary patency was 92 % (95 %CI 75-99 %), and 23 patients (96 %) were free from the PTS according to the Villalta score. In 16 patients with stent thrombosis, six-month primary patency was 63 % (95 %CI 35-85 %) and 50 % were free from PTS. Except for transient macroscopic haemoglobinuria in all patients, no other side effects were recorded. Conclusions: In patients with iliofemoral DVT of native or stented vessels, RT followed by stent placement appears to be effective and safe. The novel technique enables single-session DVT treatment in the majority of patients without the need for prolonged CDT.