Aggressive intravenous thrombolysis of pulmonary emboli after major thoracic surgery has rarely been reported and is controversial because of an assumed risk of fatal bleeding. We report a 62-year old female who underwent left upper lobectomy. Her postoperative course was complicated with symptomatic pulmonary embolism and on postoperative day 5 she was successfully treated with intravenous thrombolysis using alteplase (Actilyse(®)) without signs of bleeding. She was discharged from the hospital 12 days postoperatively.