Fibrin D-Dimer Measurement in Suspected Pulmonary Embolism

Philippe de Moerloose; Martin H. Prins

doi:10.1055/s-2001-18485

Seminars in Vascular Medicine, Table of Contents

Semin Vasc Med 2001; 01(2): 175-180
DOI: 10.1055/s-2001-18485

Fibrin D-Dimer Measurement in Suspected Pulmonary Embolism

Philippe de Moerloose¹ , Martin H. Prins²

¹Division of Angiology and Hemostasis, Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital of Geneva, Switzerland
²Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Medical Technology Assessment, Academic Hospital Maastricht, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Due to increased awareness among physicians, the prevalence of pulmonary embolism (PE) in patients clinically suspected of the disease has steadily decreased during the past 15 years. This has led to the development of simple diagnostic tools in an attempt to reduce the number of invasive or costly exams needed to manage these patients. D-dimer (DD) measurement has proven to be a simple and very useful test to exclude PE and several strategies combining DD with clinical probability and other exams have been validated in large outcome studies. The problem faced by many physicians is the choice of the specific DD test and its more appropriate position in the diagnostic work-up of patients suspected of PE. This article focuses on these questions and also provides some limitations of DD use, such as its poor specificity in hospitalized and elderly patients.

KEYWORD

D-dimer - pulmonary embolism - elderly - diagnostic strategies

Full Text

References

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