Diagnostic and prognostic value of the D-dimer test in emergency department patients: secondary analysis of an observational study

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (11) ◽  
pp. 1730-1736 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alaadin Vögeli ◽  
Mohammad Ghasemi ◽  
Claudia Gregoriano ◽  
Angelika Hammerer ◽  
Sebastian Haubitz ◽  
...  

Abstract Background D-dimer measurement improves the rule-out of thromboembolic disease. However, little is known about the risk of false positive results for the diagnosis of thromboembolic disease and its prognostic value. Herein, we investigated factors influencing the accuracy of D-dimer and its prognostic value in a large cohort of emergency department (ED) patients. Methods This is a secondary analysis of a prospective observational single center, cohort study. Consecutive patients, for whom a D-dimer test was requested by the treating physician, were included. Associations of clinical parameters on admission with false positive D-dimer results for the diagnosis of thromboembolic disease were investigated with logistic regression analysis. Results A total of 3301 patients were included, of which 203 (6.1%) had confirmed thromboembolic disease. The negative and positive predictive values of the D-dimer test at the 0.5 mg/L cut-off were 99.9% and 11.4%, respectively. Several factors were associated with positive D-dimer results potentially falsely indicating thromboembolic disease in multivariate analysis including advanced age (odds ratio [OR] 1.04, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.04–1.05, p < 0.001), congestive heart failure (CHF) (OR 2.79, 95% CI 1.77–4.4, p < 0.01), renal failure (OR 2.00, 95% CI 1.23–3.24, p = 0.005), history of malignancy (OR 2.6, 95% CI 1.57–4.31, p < 0.001), C-reactive protein (CRP) (OR 1.02, 95% CI 1.01–1.02, p < 0.001) and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) (OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.99–1.00, p = 0.003). Regarding its prognostic value, D-dimer was associated with a 30-day mortality (adjusted OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.02–1.09, p = 0.003) with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.79. Conclusions While D-dimer allows an accurate rule-out of thromboembolic disease, its positive predictive value in routine ED patients is limited and largely influenced by age, comorbidities and acute disease factors. The strong prognostic value of D-dimer in this population warrants further investigation.

2020 ◽  
Vol 154 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S5-S5
Author(s):  
Ridin Balakrishnan ◽  
Daniel Casa ◽  
Morayma Reyes Gil

Abstract The diagnostic approach for ruling out suspected acute pulmonary embolism (PE) in the ED setting includes several tests: ultrasound, plasma d-dimer assays, ventilation-perfusion scans and computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA). Importantly, a pretest probability scoring algorithm is highly recommended to triage high risk cases while also preventing unnecessary testing and harm to low/moderate risk patients. The d-dimer assay (both ELISA and immunoturbidometric) has been shown to be extremely sensitive to rule out PE in conjunction with clinical probability. In particularly, d-dimer testing is recommended for low/moderate risk patients, in whom a negative d-dimer essentially rules out PE sparing these patients from CTPA radiation exposure, longer hospital stay and anticoagulation. However, an unspecific increase in fibrin-degradation related products has been seen with increase in age, resulting in higher false positive rate in the older population. This study analyzed patient visits to the ED of a large academic institution for five years and looked at the relationship between d-dimer values, age and CTPA results to better understand the value of age-adjusted d-dimer cut-offs in ruling out PE in the older population. A total of 7660 ED visits had a CTPA done to rule out PE; out of which 1875 cases had a d-dimer done in conjunction with the CT and 5875 had only CTPA done. Out of the 1875 cases, 1591 had positive d-dimer results (&gt;0.50 µg/ml (FEU)), of which 910 (57%) were from patients older than or equal to fifty years of age. In these older patients, 779 (86%) had a negative CT result. The following were the statistical measures of the d-dimer test before adjusting for age: sensitivity (98%), specificity (12%); negative predictive value (98%) and false positive rate (88%). After adjusting for age in people older than 50 years (d-dimer cut off = age/100), 138 patients eventually turned out to be d-dimer negative and every case but four had a CT result that was also negative for a PE. The four cases included two non-diagnostic results and two with subacute/chronic/subsegmental PE on imaging. None of these four patients were prescribed anticoagulation. The statistical measures of the d-dimer test after adjusting for age showed: sensitivity (96%), specificity (20%); negative predictive value (98%) and a decrease in the false positive rate (80%). Therefore, imaging could have been potentially avoided in 138/779 (18%) of the patients who were part of this older population and had eventual negative or not clinically significant findings on CTPA if age-adjusted d-dimers were used. This data very strongly advocates for the clinical usefulness of an age-adjusted cut-off of d-dimer to rule out PE.


Circulation ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 130 (suppl_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Slagman ◽  
Julia Searle ◽  
Fabian Holert ◽  
Jörn Ole Vollert ◽  
Reinhold Muller ◽  
...  

Introduction: Mid-regional pro-ANP is mainly synthesized in the atria of the heart and it′s secretion is stimulated by ischemia and distension of the myocardium. Objective: To assess the utility of ANP for rule out NSTEMI in combination with cardiac troponin in unselected patients who attend the Emergency Department (ED) with acute cardiac chief complaints. Methods: Patients with chest pain and dyspnea were enrolled over a period of 30 months in the Emergency Department (n=537). Patients with STEMI were excluded from the analysis as diagnosis is ECG- and not biomarker-based (n=18). Blood samples were drawn within 2 hours after admission. Gold-Standard diagnoses were adjudicated by an independent cardiologist. ANP was measured using the BRAHMS Kryptor MR-proANP assay. The lower limit of detection is 2.1 pmol/l. The 97.5 th percentile of a normal population is 86.2 pmol/l and was applied as a cut-off value in this analysis. Troponin I was measured using the Stratus CS and a cut-off value of 0.1 μg/L was applied. Variables are shown as median (IQR) and 95%-CIs. Results: The median ANP-value in all patients (n=519) was 135 pmol/l. Patients with NSTEMI (n=58) had significantly higher ANP-values (244/104-350 pmol/l) as compared to patients with other diagnoses (126/74-256; p<0.0001). In ROC-analysis ANP had an area under the curve of 0.648 (CI:0.582-0.715) for the diagnosis of NSTEMI. Of all patients, 74.2% were troponin negative at admission (n=385). Of these patients, 32.2% (n=124) were also ANP negative. The prevalence of AMI in this subgroup was 1.6% (n=2). The NPV for the combination of troponin and ANP was 98.4% (CI: 94.3-99.8%) and thus higher than for both markers alone (figure 1). In combination with Copeptin, the NPV increased to 100% (CI: 96.3-100%). Conclusions: ANP has potential for early rule-out of AMI in combination with troponin and, due to a different pathophysiological stimulus, it might be used as part of a triple-marker strategy with copeptin and troponin.


PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e11656
Author(s):  
Lan Chen ◽  
Han Zheng ◽  
Saibin Wang

Background Upper gastrointestinal bleeding is a common presentation in emergency departments and carries significant morbidity worldwide. It is paramount that treating physicians have access to tools that can effectively evaluate the patient risk, allowing quick and effective treatments to ultimately improve their prognosis. This study aims to establish a mortality risk assessment model for patients with acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding at an emergency department. Methods A total of 991 patients presenting with acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding between July 2016 and June 2019 were enrolled in this retrospective single-center cohort study. Patient demographics, parameters assessed at admission, laboratory test, and clinical interventions were extracted. We used the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression to identify predictors for establishing a nomogram for death in the emergency department or within 24 h after leaving the emergency department and a corresponding nomogram. The area under the curve of the model was calculated. A bootstrap resampling method was used to internal validation, and decision curve analysis was applied for evaluate the clinical utility of the model. We also compared our predictive model with other prognostic models, such as AIMS65, Glasgow-Blatchford bleeding score, modified Glasgow-Blatchford bleeding score, and Pre-Endoscopic Rockall Score. Results Among 991 patients, 41 (4.14%) died in the emergency department or within 24 h after leaving the emergency department. Five non-zero coefficient variables (transfusion of plasma, D-dimer, albumin, potassium, age) were filtered by the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression analysis and used to establish a predictive model. The area under the curve for the model was 0.847 (95% confidence interval [0.794–0.900]), which is higher than that of previous models for mortality of patients with acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding. The decision curve analysis indicated the clinical usefulness of the model. Conclusions The nomogram based on transfusion of plasma, D-dimer, albumin, potassium, and age effectively assessed the prognosis of patients with acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding presenting at the emergency department.


2019 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. S139-S140
Author(s):  
A.R. Akhavan ◽  
N. Johnson ◽  
B. Friedman ◽  
K. Jablonowski ◽  
J. Hall ◽  
...  

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