D-dimer assay predicts mortality in critically ill patients without disseminated intravascular coagulation or venous thromboembolic disease.
Journal Article
Objective
To determine if D-dimer predicts outcomes in critically ill patients.Design
Observational, cohort study.Setting
Medical intensive care unit (MICU) of a tertiary care hospital.Patients and participants
Seventy-four patients consecutively admitted to the MICU.Interventions
D-dimer was measured by latex agglutination within 12 h of admission to the MICU.Measurements and results
Of the study population, 43.2% had positive D-dimers. The in-hospital mortality rate in D-dimer positive patients was 28.1% as compared to 7.1% in D-dimer negative subjects (p = 0.024). D-dimer positive patients had significantly greater frequencies of venous thromboses (21.9% vs 4.8%, p = 0.035).Conclusions
The D-dimer assay identifies patients at increased risk for mortality and may be a more sensitive test to determine the presence of underlying microvascular pathology in critically ill patients. A positive D-dimer at admission to the MICU is associated with an increased risk for the later development of a venous thromboembolic event (VTE).Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Shorr, AF; Trotta, RF; Alkins, SA; Hanzel, GS; Diehl, LF
Published Date
- February 1999
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 25 / 2
Start / End Page
- 207 - 210
PubMed ID
- 10193549
Pubmed Central ID
- 10193549
Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)
- 1432-1238
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 0342-4642
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1007/s001340050817
Language
- eng