Acta clinica Croatica, Vol. 40 No. 4, 2001.
Original scientific paper
D-Dimers in the Diagnosis of Thromboembolic Diseases
Željko Vučićević
Tomislav Šušković
Abstract
Every suspicion of thromboembolic disease requires urgent therapy decision because of the potential life-threatening complications. Routine measurement of plasma D-dimer levels has alleviated this delicate problem. In this study, D-dimers were measured in 49 out of 121 patients admitted to the Department of Medicine from 1997 till 1999 for suspected thromboembolic disease. The selection of these 49 patients was based on the high probability of pulmonary embolism on ventilation/perfusion lung scan or clinical signs of deep venous thrombosis and positive isotope venography. Increased D-dimer levels were found in all 49 cases. The patients were classified according to the extension of the thrombotic incident. Higher D-dimer values were recorded in patients with massive or submassive pulmonary embolism (mean 5.6 ng/L) as compared to those with segmental pulmonary embolism (mean 2.6 ng/L). D-dimer levels in patients with ileofemoral thrombosis were much higher (mean 5.2 ng/L) than in patients with calf thrombosis (mean 1.6 ng/L). One patient with calf thrombosis had a borderline level of 0.3 ng/L (normal value: up to 0.3 ng/L). Although a positive correlation between thrombus size and D-dimer levels has been demonstrated, other factors may also influence test results, e.g., disseminated intravascular coagulation, intensity of fibrinolysis, and simultaneous thrombosis of unrecognized localization.
Keywords
Fibrin - fibrinogen degradation products, analysis; Pulmonary embolism, diagnosis; Venous thrombosis, diagnosis
Hrčak ID:
14875
URI
Publication date:
3.12.2001.
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